Shadow of the Sun: The Dark Side of the Moon
by Almech Alfarion
Summary: While the Nobility of the Moon Kingdom and a select few elites among society sit in luxury, the rest of the people live in poverty and fear of their masters. All things change in time however, and a pair of orphans on the streets are the key...
1. Prologue: Forgotten History

Legal Stuff

1) The Characters and Stories of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ are Copyright © Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi respectively, and are used here without permission or license.

2) No claims to the above copyrights are made by the author of this work.

33) This is a work written for non-commercial use ONLY, and is written for the purpose of the enjoyment of fans.

4) This work is the expression of the author, and the depictions of the characters of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ herein are in no way represented to be a part of _Ranma ½ _or _Sailor Moon_ as depicted by the original authors and copyright holders.

Beginning Notes: Read and find out people... I'm not telling you what happens before hand, Alright? Alright, good, because I'm not doing it.

(V. 1.51)

**The Dark Side of the Moon**

By: Almech Alfarion (Child of Fire)

Prologue: Forgotten History

-o-o-o-o-o-

It was a shadowy lunar night in the capitol city of the Moon Kingdom, a city that never slept. The Lunar Palace was just off center of the inner city, perched on the shores of the Sea of Serenity and surrounded by wealthy districts. The tall silver spires of the inner city rose into the sky, and transports swarmed around them like so many gnats, taking people to and from their homes, shopping and entertainment districts, and places of work. As the city moved outward from this inner city however, the wealth seemed to disappear. Trash and refuse gathered in places, graffiti and signs of damage and disrepair became more common, and poverty and crime grew...

Two children watched the foot traffic in one of the many markets of the slums of the outer city from behind a crate in a nearby alley. Unlike the inner city, the buildings were shorter here, only being a few stories tall on average, and allowed the soft magical light provided during the long lunar nights to filter down to the streets. They were both filthy and wore clothing that seemed to be made from discarded rags, sewn together in a mish-mash of colors and patterns and both were bare-foot. One looked to be about eight years old and had her hair tied into a long braid that reached her waist. It would have been bright red, were it not just as dirty as the rest of her. The other looked to be roughly a year older than her companion and had her equally filthy brown hair roughly hacked off just below her shoulders and held back with an old, spotted handkerchief tied like a bandana.

"So... What's the plan?" said the brown haired girl.

"What plan?" returned the red-head.

"You know... The plan?" repeated the brown haired girl with a hint of impatience.

"You know I'm no good at that stuff. You think of something..." shot the redhead.

The brown haired girl looked over the market outside of the alley from her position for a second, "Umm... See the fat one behind the bread stall?"

Her companion cocked an eyebrow at her, "Yeah? What about him?"

"You do the 'cute girl routine' while I sneak in back and grab something before he notices..."

"Awww... But Nibbles... I did it last time..." whined the redhead.

"Just for calling me Nibbles you can do it next time too..." 'Nibbles' said in an annoyed voice as she looked at the shorter girl through hooded eyes.

"Fine Nabiki, I'll do it, but you better get something good. The fruit at that stall this morning was half rotten..."

"Yes, yes, Ranma... I'll try to get something fresh. That fruit didn't stick with us at all..." Nabiki grimaced at the memory of the flavor of their breakfast, as it traveled both ways...

"Let's just hope none of 'The Scouts' are around... I really don't want to end up like Ucchan." said Ranma as she mentally prepared herself to out cute a cartload of kittens.

"I told her to leave the pick-pocketing to me, but would she listen? Then she goes after what looks like an easy mark and it ends up being a royal and the next thing we know, she's on fire, surrounded by Royal Guardsmen, telling us to run, and we're dodging mana bolts as we make for the roof-tops..." Nabiki bowed her head in remembrance of their friend and how she had been separated from them a few days prior. There was nothing that they could have done for her. If Ukyou survived, she would have been dragged off to the dungeons at the royal palace and it was well known that anyone brought there was very likely to never be seen again. The two penniless orphans didn't have a chance at rescuing their friend when put up against the Royal Guard and their mana blasters.

"Yeah..." Ranma bowed her head for a moment as she remembered their friend as well. "Game time Nabiki. Better get ready, I'm going out." And with that, Ranma put on the most pitiful puppy-dog face she could manage and walked out into the crowd, with Nabiki following behind her. They split up quickly into a well practiced routine; Nabiki to hover in the area around their mark and to try not to look suspicious while waiting for Ranma to make her move, and Ranma to seemingly wander aimlessly around the area until she would stop in front of the bread vendor to look longingly at the food.

"Can I help you miss?" said the large man at the stall.

"Um... How... How much is a loaf of bread?" replied Ranma in a well practiced act. This was Nabiki's cue to sneak behind the counter. Now all Ranma needed to do was stall and make sure that she held his attention for her partner to sneak back out unnoticed.

"Well that depends on what kind you want. We've got flat-breads which are between twenty and twenty-five lunas, Spice-breads which are anywhere from thirty five to forty depending on the spices, and some Grain-breads which are anywhere from fifteen to fifty. Take your pick" he said, gesturing over his inventory, pointing out the different breads available. He doubted that the girl would be able to buy anything over twenty lunas, judging by the state of her clothes, but he saw quite a few poor people come to the market for food and figured that her parents had sent her to get something for supper. And besides, she just looked so pitiful, with her dirt smeared face and that pout and the big eyes...

"I... I'd like some wheat... That's the cheapest right?" the man nodded, "Then I'll take some of that." Ranma reached into her pockets and felt around for a few seconds, and then she started patting herself down, slowly appearing to become more and more panicked.

"What's wrong miss?"

The dirty, red-haired girl started to cry, and rather convincingly too. "I... I s-seem to have d-dropped my m-money s-somewhere. M-Mama's going to be s-so m-mad that I l-lost it. I... I'm s-sorry, b-but I c-can't pay f-for the bread... I... I g-guess I'll have t-to go now..."

"No, no... Don't worry. You can have it..." The man was caught, hook, line, and sinker. Now all Ranma needed to do was real in the fish. Or bread, as it were.

"No, no... Y-you don't have to... I... I'll just g-go home n-now... M-mama's g-going to b-be home soon, a-and I n-need to... to t-tell her I l-lost the money..." Tears were streaming down her face as she started to turn away. The man looked on, pitying the poor girl. He didn't notice Nabiki sneaking behind him for the second time, making good on the distraction her friend was providing.

"Wait... I... I insist... Take the bread. It's hard times on everyone here... Just... Just don't lose your money next time, OK?" The vendor smiled at the crying girl and held out a small loaf of wheat bread for her.

Ranma meekly took the bread and mumbled a thank you to the man before walking away, but on the inside she was grinning like an idiot. _'__SUCKER!' _A few minutes later she met up with Nabiki in the alley they had been originally hiding in. "So... you get anything good?" She asked, dropping her act completely and breaking into a wide grin.

Nabiki grinned in return, "Yes I did actually... That was quite the performance you put on." She started walking towards the other end of the alley, shifting through the contents of a bag she hadn't had before, and handed Ranma a lump of something brown.

Ranma smiled as she stuffed the loaf of bread she had coned out of the vendor into her pocket in favor of the offered food. "Ohhh... Curry bread... Hey... Where'd you get the bag?" she asked.

"He had them under the counter so I grabbed one to put the food into." The older girl said as she pulled out a piece of bread for herself and tore off a chunk with her teeth. She finished chewing and swallowed before continuing by holding up a wallet, "I also got this..."

"Oh? And how much did he have on him?"

"Not much... we might be able to buy shoes though..." Nabiki sighed as she slipped the wallet into the bag... her feet were used to the bare pavement, but it was cold in the city, especially when they were turned away from the sun like they were now, and food was easy enough to get without money.

"Well that'll be – Eeek!" Ranma screamed out as she felt a hand close on the back of her shirt and hoist her into the air. Nabiki let out a similar scream and barely managed to hold onto the bag and its contents as she was lifted off the ground as well.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" said the scratchy male voice of the person who had grabbed them. "A couple of con artists and thieves I think... What do you think Ron?"

"Ron" replied in a less gravelly voice, but it held just as much menace as his partner "I think we got ourselves a couple of street kids who thought that just cuz their poor means they can take what they want."

"Well then... it's lucky we found you... You see, even poor kids need to know what's what and it's part of our job to show them." Ron chuckled darkly in the background...

By now Ranma had managed to turn her head enough to get a look at her captor's shirt and saw the crescent moon badge pinned to his shoulder. _'__Oh hell, oh shit, oh FUCK! Silver Moon Military! We gota get out of here! If they don't kill us, they'll probably take us to the prisons...'_ Ranma's panicked thought process froze when she heard what "Ron" said next.

"I'll take the redhead Sam. You like em' a little older anyway, right?" Ranma could hear the leer the man was giving her in his voice. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. She looked over at Nabiki to see if she had a plan, but her friend was wide eyed and seemed just as scared as her.

"Sam" leaned in close to whisper into their ears, "Now there is one thing that you two can do for us that'll make us forget that we ever saw ya'... and you can either do it the easy way, or the hard way... your choice."

Instinct born from living on the streets for as long as she could remember kicked in and Ranma kicked her foot backwards and managed to score a lucky shot. He dropped both of them and folded over cursing while clutching his groin, but Nabiki was stunned when she hit the ground. Ranma hadn't fared much better, but she managed to roll onto her feet only to see one man on the ground in the fetal position and the other pointing his mana pistol at her, "You little BITCH!"

Instinct kicked into high gear again as she rolled out of the way of the burning pure magical energy that was being fired at her. Her panic was rising as the shots came closer and closer to hitting her when she felt something rise up within her. Suddenly everything around her started to lose its color; shadows merged with light and colors faded into grays, blacks and whites. The strange thing was that it seemed perfectly natural to her, as though this was how things were supposed to be. This seemed to extend to either end of the alley, where she could see normal light fading into the strange grey light, but the normal light seemed wrong to her for some reason...

"What the Fuck?" the man who had been shooting at her stopped and was looking around as though he were blind. "What'd you do you little bitch! Show yourself!" Ranma couldn't understand... she could see him just fine. Better than fine actually...

In the confusion Nabiki had recovered from her fall. She was feeling around blindly, adding more confusion to what Ranma was feeling already, "Ranma! Where the hell are you! What's going on! I can't see a thing!" Her voice was panicked and she was clutching the bag with the bread like her life depended on it.

Ranma ran over to her friend and grabbed her hand saying, "I'm right here Nabs! Come On! Let's get out of here!" and she started pulling the older girl towards the mouth of the alley and away from the still fumbling Silver Moon Military personnel.

"How the fuck can you know where we're going? I can't see shit!" yelled Nabiki as they reached the edge of the strange light.

"What are you talking about? I could see just fine!" They were running down the nearly deserted street outside of the alley, dodging through the few people that were there and over and under the occasional cart or street vendor as they tried to put as much distance between them and the alley as possible.

"It was PITCH BLACK in there! I couldn't see my hand if I pressed it against my eye, and you say you could see just FINE! I don't believe you!" Nabiki saw a stack of crates against a nearby wall and signaled to Ranma, who nodded and changed course to head straight for them, where both of the girls used the makeshift stairway to climb to the low roof of the building next to them, whereupon they started roof-hopping to gain ground even faster.

"I'm telling you Nabs! I could see just fine! One second I was dodging mana, the next everything had gone all grey and it was like he couldn't see!"

"_I _couldn't see! AND DON'T CALL ME NABS!" yelled Nabiki as they made a jump to a higher roof.

"You there! Stop in the Name of the Queen!" shouted a third voice. It was female, and held an edge to it that suggested that if they didn't obey, they would experience unpleasant things. Ranma and Nabiki froze. There were only a few people who said that, and they were the last people you wanted to run into with a bagful of bread, and someone else's wallet, while running over the rooftops.

They slowly turned to see the image of Sailors Mars and Jupiter running towards them over the rooftops and the look on their faces said that they would as soon ask questions as kill them. "RUN!" Nabiki shouted and grabbed Ranma's hand and started running away from the Senshi. Ranma quickly regained her senses and started running as well.

"It's just one of those days isn't it!" shouted Ranma as they made their way across the rooftops as quickly as they could. Years of experience running over these roofs allowed them to use familiar terrain to their advantage and keep the Senshi from catching up to them too quickly.

That is until... "BURNIGN MANDALA!" shouted Sailor Mars and magical fire flew downrange towards the running girls. Ranma had the benefit of being behind a chimney when the fire hit, but Nabiki had had just enough time to turn around, wide-eyed as the fire struck her full force. Both Sailor Scouts stopped to wait for the pair to either run or for the smoke to clear.

"Nabiki!" Ranma shouted as she saw her friend engulfed in flames from behind her cover as heat and flame rushed past. _'__She's... She's dead! First Kas-chan and Akane-chan when they got sick, then Ucchan when the guards took her and now Nabiki to The Scouts... I'm the only one that's left... I'm all allo-' _Her thoughts were cut short when she heard a coughing sound coming from the smoke where Nabiki had been before the fire had hit her.

"Right here Ranma..." Nabiki walked through the smoke and into Ranma's line of sight. She thought she saw a fading circular mark on the taller girl's forehead but couldn't quite tell what it was if it had been there at all. She was fine... Not a scratch or burn on her, and her clothes were only a little singed, despite the fact that she had just taken magical fire to the face. "I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't know what's going on today..."

Ranma could only nod, her eyes wide in disbelief, as she stared at her still alive friend. It was impossible... Just like it was impossible for her to see when no one else seemed to be able to... She grabbed the older girl into a backbreaking hug and cried softly into her shoulder, while Nabiki stroked her hair. The smoke was beginning to clear when they let go of each other. They heard voices from outside the cloud.

"You see them Mars?"

"No Jupiter, I don't. But they haven't come out yet so they must still be in there."

"What should we do when we see them? I think you hit the tall one. If she's dead then we'll have a mess on our hands."

"No we won't. There just a couple of street kids. Saw them a couple of days ago when one of their friends tried to pick my pocket but I lost them because I needed to stay with the patrol."

"So what? We just kill them and say it was an accident?"

"That's exactly what we do... No one will miss them anyway."

"Right. Wait! There They Are! SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"

Ranma and Nabiki had been quietly making their way to the far edge of the smoke cloud as this conversation had been going on, but just as they had reached it, they had been spotted and the attack launched. The moment Ranma had heard the word "Wait!" something had told her to grab onto Nabiki for dear life. Time seemed to slow down for the girls as the lightning flashed towards them. Ranma squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. Suddenly Ranma felt that rising sensation again and just as suddenly, she felt like she was everywhere and nowhere at the same time... and then the sensation stopped.

When she opened her eyes she still held Nabiki in a death grip, but they were somehow on a different rooftop, and judging by the scenery, they were on the other side of the city from where they had been. Nabiki was staring at her forehead with wide eyes before they heard the voice.

"Right on time... would you two mind coming with me for a while?"

-o-o-o-o-o-

Nabiki saw the lightning coming in and knew that this was the end. Ranma had grabbed her in a death grip and had her eyes closed tight, when suddenly Nabiki felt like she was being pulled somewhere and her vision blurred into a kaleidoscope of colors, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling. It was a sensation of being dragged behind something that was equally everywhere and nowhere all at the same time but was still somehow moving all the same. Suddenly, the feeling stopped and her vision cleared to reveal a rooftop she knew to be on the other side of the city. But that wasn't what held her attention.

What held Nabiki's attention instead of the impossibility of being on one side of the city one moment and the other the next was the golden symbol rapidly fading from her young friend's forehead. It was a circle with a line coming straight out of the top and an oblong shape going upwards at an angle from about the middle of the line. If she used her imagination a little, it looked kind of like an apple with a single leaf coming off of the stem. A voice broke her musings.

"Right on time... would you two mind coming with me for a while?"

-o-o-o-o-o-

Setsuna Meiou, I.E. Sailor Pluto, was not having a good century. She equated herself to the Senshi equivalent of the mother who told her children to behave while she went out to the store, only to return and find that the whole house was a war zone... Only she wasn't a mother, despite having been alive for a thousand years before the first bio domes went up on the moon, the first celestial body to be colonized by what was then known as the "Earth Coalition", and appointed as the Guardian of Time by the First Queen of the Moon, and later her friend, Serenity I, a thousand years after that. Nor was her house a mess... It was an immaculately clean palace perched on a bluff near the banks of the Styx River on Planet Pluto.

She either needed more time to fix her mistake, an interesting concept coming from the "Time Senshi", or she needed to activate her final contingency. She wanted to avoid that, but if things kept degrading as they were it would be necessary. She was standing at the gates of time, trying to back-track events to figure out what had gone wrong when, when she felt something through them that disturbed her. It was a concentrated point of chaos energy. She hated chaos energy because it interfered with how the gates worked, making things random and all that good stuff, but there was nothing she could do about it seeing as chaos was a necessary part of the function of the universe. It wasn't very powerful though... and it was in the lunar capital.

This gave her pause. Part of the reason she was here at the gates looking for something to prevent the contingency plan going into effect was because the reigning "Queen Serenity" three centuries or so back had tried to use the Ginzuishou to stamp out chaos in the system and create a "perfect order"... It had sort-of worked, chaos energy disappeared almost instantly anywhere closer than seventy-five AU's to the sun, and it didn't even register when on the moon... but people were a random factor in and of themselves; so she decided to use overwhelming military force to impose order on the system. The result had been a dictatorial government that attempted to control how people lived their lives, where only the rich stayed rich and the poor got poorer. So what would cause a chaos node even _this_ weak to survive this long in the capital city of all places?

Looking closer she noticed another energy signature, slightly stronger than the chaos energy, close by. Curious, she tuned the gates to focus on this second energy, not being able to focus directly on a chaotic epicenter even if she wanted to. What she found surprised her and then made her smile. _'__I thought they were all dead... but if that's there then could that chaos be... Wait! I can't get my hopes up... I don't know enough. Time for a little on sight reconnaissance I think.' _And she teleported out of the dimension the time gates resided in to appear on a rooftop overlooking one of the marketplaces in the outer city of the capital. Her connection to the time gates was fine enough where she knew the general area that the energy was coming from, but she couldn't quite lock onto it yet, so she waited to see what would happen until she had a better lock. A few minutes passed as she waited before she heard a scream come from an alley a few buildings over. The energy was still in the area, so she decided to see what was going on.

When she got there she saw two young girls being held off the ground by a rather well built man in a military uniform. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but judging by the state of the children's clothing and the rather new looking bag that one of them held, she figured that the men had caught a couple of thieves. Nothing wrong with that... Then the one standing back said something that she could clearly hear.

Her blood boiled at the thought of someone doing what that man down there had implied, but before she could do anything the younger one kicked the man holding her and he dropped like a stone, clutching at a rather sensitive member of the male anatomy. _'__Ohhh... Girl's got spunk. I think I'll watch. If they get in over their heads I'll do something but for now...' _her thoughts trailed off as she saw the blue mana being fired at the young girl, who was doing a rather good job of dodging. Pluto was just about to step in when something happened to change her mind. Suddenly the chaos reading she was getting from the gates nearly doubled and it picked up a second signature of darkness energy focused on what would probably have been the epicenter of the chaos if she could have gotten a lock on it. It also told her that the epicenter was focused right on the young girl who was dodging mana fire.

All in this same instance, a dark wall seemed to explode outward from the girl, blocking her vision of the alley. The edges of the darkness seemed to fade into light, as though the light were being absorbed by the darkness the closer it came to it. She heard the man shout and what she assumed was one of the girls say something about not being able to see and a second girls voice yelling that they should get out of there. Pluto used her link to the gate, and the lock on the darkness energy to follow them out of the alley and on a mad dash through the street below, until they showed an impressive display of skill in leaping on some crates and onto the rooftops.

She saw Mars and Jupiter coming before the girls did and hid behind a taller building. Like her, they were probably investigating the energy signature the girl had just given off, but she wasn't on very good terms with the Sailor Scouts right now... Whispers and rumors of her involvement in several failed insurrection attempts didn't garner a good reputation in the royal court. Waiting for them to pass before continuing, she followed at what she considered a "safe" distance and she stopped when she saw Mars cast her attack and hit the older looking girl and the first energy reading that had originally caught her interest flared and focused on where the girl was standing. A few minutes passed before the smoke began to clear and she heard the entirety of the two Sailor Scout's conversation. It made her both mad, and sad, and it only reaffirmed her justification for supporting and even organizing some of those insurrections.

Jupiter's shout startled her a little and she had just enough reaction time to see the lightning streaming towards the girls. Something happened though; Pluto felt a ripple through her link to the gates. The chaos energy was spiking again, this time even higher than before, and time seemed to slow for a moment. Literally, and it wasn't Pluto doing it either.

Then she saw it. Centered on the younger girl, and surrounding both of them, was a barely perceptible bubble of shifting colors, and suddenly they were gone... and time returned to normal... Not wanting to be around when the Scouts called for reinforcements to help search for the children, Pluto made her exit and followed the trace she still had on them. The chaos energy was making it harder for the gates to lock onto them, but it seemed to be fading to what she guessed was the girl's "passive output" and made it easier to trace her companion. She teleported across the city...

The scene before her was just so cute she had to suppress a giggle. The younger red-haired girl was griping the older brown-haired girl and had her eyes shut like her life depended on it. The symbol on her forehead caught Setsuna's interest just as much as it had Nabiki's, but she recovered more quickly and de-transformed. She guessed, judging by their reactions when they had seen Sailors Mars and Jupiter, that they... distrusted, certain figures of authority at the very least. She put on her best "You amuse me..." face and stepped into a more visible position on the roof, "Right on time... would you two mind coming with me for a while?"

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ranma and Nabiki were so startled by the unexpected voice that they jumped apart and must have broken a land speed record when they moved to hide behind a nearby roof garden. When they peeked out from opposite sides, they saw a tall, tanned woman with long green hair and red eyes who wore a nice dress, but by no means looked as though she was going to a social function. She had a thoroughly amused look on her face, probably taking enjoyment from their antics.

"Who... Who are you?" asked Ranma, suspicious of the woman.

"Yeah... and what do you mean by 'right on time'?" continued Nabiki.

The woman raised a single eyebrow, making her look even more amused, and answered "My name is Setsuna Meiou, and you two seem to have gotten out of a sticky situation just in time..." She looked around a little before continuing, "Now if you don't mind, I have some things that I would like to ask you about how you came to be on this rooftop, but some Sailor Scouts are coming and I'd rather not have to... explain... to them about why I'm here, so if you two could come over here, we can be going."

"How do we know this isn't some kind of trick?" Nabiki was even more suspicious than before. The woman sounded like she had seen everything. But that was clear on the other side of the city, so if that was the case, how did she get here so fast? On the other hand, the way she spoke of the Sailor Scouts and not wanting to be around them told her that they probably didn't like this "Setsuna", if that really was her name, very much.

Setsuna pointed over the rooftops. When Ranma and Nabiki looked, they saw two white and blue shapes, one slightly lighter blue than the other, moving in their general direction. Ranma let out an "Eeep" and quickly dragged her friend to the green haired lady. She hadn't attacked them yet and had said she wanted to talk, so Ranma figured that she must be better than being caught by The Scouts. The tall lady laid a hand on their shoulders and smiled before Ranma saw a light and the world around her lurched and she felt her feet leave the ground, and then suddenly stopped and gravity returned. The sudden feelings of motion and stopping of motion, along with the feeling of weightlessness and sudden return of gravity, caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. She barely had time to register that they had changed location once again before her head hit the floor. She saw white and then the darkness of unconsciousness claimed her...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Soft light was shining through Ranma's eyelids. She closed them tighter, not wanting to wake up. She imagined that she must be dreaming because she was lying down on something wonderfully soft and warm and had smooth covers pulled all around her. She wasn't wearing any clothes either, but what convinced her that she must truly be in a dream was the fact that she felt clean. Wonderfully clean. Even her hair felt washed and soft and smelled of flowers as it pooled around her head, having been taken out of its braid. She hadn't felt truly clean since her parents had been killed in a raid when she was three.

Her face scrunched up at the unpleasant reminder of why she disliked the Sailor Scouts so much, besides the fact that if they caught her on the streets she would probably end up dead or worse... She couldn't remember very much from her early childhood, but this particular memory had permanently burned itself into her mind...

The Scouts had raided their home based on rumors of "dissention from the crown and harboring criminals". That had been utterly false of course... there had been no one but themselves in the house, but when her father flat out refused to let them in without some kind of warrant, they killed him. Her mother had been only slightly luckier. She had carried Ranma out of the burning wreckage of the house and run for as long as she could before she collapsed. But her mother had been hurt when the house exploded and died from her injuries within days. Ranma had barely survived for a week before Nabiki and her sisters had found her hiding in a dumpster. They had been similarly displaced by an unfounded raid a few months before Ranma, and once they heard her story, they took her in...

"Ranma..." said a voice, distracting her from the unpleasant memories...

"Mmmmm..." Ranma closed her eyes tighter and tried to ignore the voice. She didn't want to wake up from the dream of being clean and someplace soft and warm...

'Raaanmaaaaa..." The voice persisted.

"Mmmm!" Ranma rolled onto her stomach and covered her head with her arms.

"RANMA! Get up!" yelled Nabiki's voice.

Ranma's eyes cracked open slightly when she recognized the voice of her friend. To her surprise, the feeling of being clean and lying on something unbelievably soft didn't leave her. The smooth and warm covers she felt around her were a soft tan color and appeared to be made of silk. She rolled over onto her side so she could see the direction she thought Nabiki's voice had come from. What she saw was a grinning Nabiki sitting on a chair next to the bed she was in. She was clean as well and her hair had been evened out in the back. She wore a comfortable looking yellow shirt with a red skirt of matching style, and the old handkerchief she had used to hold her hair back had been replaced by a hair band.

Stranger than a clean Nabiki was the room she was in. Tan carpets covered the equally tan stone floor and the walls and ceiling were made from the same tan stone as the floor. Finely carved, yet still plain looking wooden furniture decorated the room and one window let the sunlight in from outside... _'__Wait, sunlight? It was still lunar night last time I checked... so why is there sunlight?' _"Um... Nabiki? How long have I been asleep? And... Where are we?"

"You've only been out for a few hours. As to where we are... I think we're on Pluto judging by how small the sun is. After you hit your head when we came here that Setsuna lady called some people to clean you up while they showed me where to do the same. Then they took us to this room..." Ranma noticed a second bed with matching sheets on the opposite wall from where hers was. "Then they gave me some new clothes and put some over there for you for when you woke up." Nabiki pointed to a table under the window with an assortment of clothes on it.

"Oh... Pluto? Are you sure?" Nabiki nodded, "How did we get here anyway? Last I checked Pluto was on the far end of the system..."

"I have no Idea, but I think that this 'Setsuna' is more than she seems on the outside..." Nabiki grew pensive for a moment, "I think we should be careful about what we tell her. I don't think she likes the Sailor Scouts too much, but I still don't trust her..."

Ranma nodded that she understood. Trust was something rare when you lived on the streets. But once that trust was earned, you damn well tried to keep it... The gangs and other homeless people would just as soon help you as they would use you to get what they wanted and then try to kill you once they got it or even outright attack you if you had what they want already. More than once they had needed to fend off other street kids, or even adults, just to keep their meal for the day...

When you lived on the streets, you got a fast course in the school of "Hard Knocks" Martial Arts... Ranma generally preferred to never give them the chance to land a hit.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Ranma decided it was time to get out of the bed. She stretched and swung her feet over the edge of the mattress and stood up and walked over to the table with the clothing laid out for her. There was quite a selection of styles and colors. Choosing what to wear, she proceeded to dress in a loose knee-length black skirt with a tight pair of shorts underneath, a plain yellow shirt, and a pair of flat heeled boots that came up to just below her knees. Everything fit her surprisingly well, almost as if it had been made for her... She was just finishing up with redoing her braid when the green haired woman who called herself "Setsuna" looked into the room from the door. She had changed out of the dress she was wearing when they had met on the rooftop and into something that looked a bit more formal and business like. Overall, it looked more natural on her than the dress had.

"Ah, you're awake... good. If you two would follow me." It wasn't a request, but at the same time it wasn't quite an order either... She motioned for them to follow with her hand and turned into the hall outside.

Ranma and Nabiki looked at each other for a moment before following her into the hall. They were still suspicious of this green haired mystery's motives so they kept close together, their shoulders almost touching. Nabiki had already seen the hall outside, but Ranma had to hide her amazement at the sheer size of it. The hall looked wide enough to drive a tank through and was double that in height with tall windows letting light in from outside. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made from the same brown stone as her room, but the differences were the decorative arches that made the ceiling, the carpet running like an isle through the middle of the floor, patterned in all colors but was predominantly black, and the walls were decorated with paintings and tapestries while vases and sculptures sat silently in alcoves set into the walls.

They followed Setsuna for a few minutes, making turns into more hallways that matched the first. Eventually, their guide turned into a plain door and led them into what appeared to be a warmly lit dining room. The surface of the table in the middle of the room was reflective enough where when Ranma and Nabiki looked, they could see their faces staring back at them. Other than that, however, the rest of the room was more like their bedroom; only the carpet here was red. More tan stone. More fine, yet plain, wooden furniture. The only real differences were the absence of beds and the decorations, which followed off of the assortment found out in the hall.

Setsuna moved to one of the chairs arranged around the table and motioned for them to sit across from her. "I'm betting your hungry, so I suggest that we eat before we talk." Ranma and Nabiki's stomachs decided to growl rather loudly at that moment and they had the good grace to look away in embarrassment. Setsuna merely nodded and as if on cue several servants in matching black uniforms walked in carrying platters of food and set them on the table. The children's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight of so much food in front of them and ravenously dived into the meal. The sound of the rapid consumption of food followed for several minutes while their host ate at a more reasonable pace.

Finally they finished eating and Setsuna planted her elbows on the table and folded her hands under her chin and seemed to examine them for a few moments before speaking, "I suppose you two are wondering why I brought you here?" They nodded, "I suppose I should fully introduce myself first. As I told you, my name is Setsuna Meiou, but what you don't know is my Title..."

"And what is that?" Nabiki asked. Her suspicions of this woman were growing. Sure she had cleaned them up and given them new clothes, but now she had admitted to having a title... Titles usually meant nobility. It wasn't all that unexpected, considering their current appointments and the obvious wealth displayed in all of the rooms she had seen so far. On the other hand though, was the fact that nobility were usually bad business for people in her and Ranma's position...

Setsuna stood up and walked to interpose herself between them and the door, cutting off the only escape route. She turned to look straight at them, before glowing a soft pink. Her clothes seemed to morph under the light and when it faded she was revealed to be wearing a white leotard bodysuit with a black miniskirt and a black sailor style collar. A large black bow with a red stone set like a broach adorned her chest and a smaller bow with longer trailing ribbons was at the small of her back. To complete the ensemble were a pair of black knee high boots with white trim, a pair of white elbow length gloves with black trim, a pair of red dangling earrings, and a gold tiara with a single black gem set in the middle of her forehead. She summoned a staff wrought into the rough shape of a key with an ornamental heart surrounding a semi-transparent garnet colored orb into her hands and leaned it against her shoulder. "I am Setsuna Meiou, Senshi of Pluto and Guardian of the Gates of Time..."

The reactions in the two girls upon seeing the finished transformation were immediate and opposite the moment they recognized the uniform she wore. Ranma leapt out of her seat and tried to charge down the so called 'Senshi', anger and hatred flashing in her eyes, and Nabiki grabbed her by the waist, pinning her arms to her sides in the process, and tried to drag her to the far wall and as far away from Pluto as she could get with fear written on her face. Both were confronting the situation as they would when they were backed into a corner back on the streets. Ranma's reaction to such situations was to charge it head on, while Nabiki would fall back as far as she could while trying to figure out a way to escape. Usually Nabiki would let Ranma fight, giving her more time to think, but this was a Sailor Scout this time. There was no hope of victory against the firepower she could bring against them.

Pluto merely raised an eyebrow and walked over to them. Nabiki was still struggling with Ranma and couldn't back away fast enough. Then she did something that neither expected. She dismissed her staff and gently laid a hand on each of their heads and knelt down to look them, more or less, in the eyes. "Peace, children. I don't know exactly what the Sailor Scouts have done to deserve such hatred from you," She said while looking Ranma in the eyes before turning her gaze on Nabiki, "or such fear from you, but I am not like them..."

"H-how do we k-k-know that this i-isn't some k-k-k-kind of t-trick?" Nabiki barely managed to get the words out of her mouth. It was as though she were frozen and the fear was written clearly on her face while she stared into those red eyes.

Ranma had calmed down some, not being able to escape Nabiki's grip, so she stared daggers at the Time Senshi instead. "They killed my parents..." Was all she managed to growl out.

Setsuna turned her gaze back to Ranma, who faltered a little under the hard stare the 'Senshi' was giving her, "Is that so? Well then, you can rest assured that I had nothing to do with that. I haven't worked with another _Senshi_ for a _very_ long time. Much longer than you've been alive. And I've _Never_ worked with the so called _'Sailor Scouts'_..." The tone of her voice made it clear what she thought of The Scouts as she almost spat the words out like an expletive. The emphasis she placed on the word 'Senshi' wasn't missed either.

She stood back up and walked over to the chair where she had been sitting before her transformation and sat back down, "Now if you two are quite done, I still have some things I'd like to discuss with you. And I'm sure that you have some questions for me as well..." The casual way she said this managed to snap them back to a more or less normal mindset, but they were still incredibly suspicious of the 'Senshi'... whatever the heck that meant... as she motioned for them to sit down again.

They retook their seats and silence reigned once again in the room. Nabiki broke the tense quiet first...

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Setsuna's attention focused on Nabiki, making the girl more than a little nervous under the scrutiny of the Time Senshi.

"Helping us. We're just a couple of orphans living on the streets. Why clean us up, give us new clothes, and feed us?" Setsuna had to give the girl credit... she hid her anxiety well despite her age.

Setsuna considered her for a moment before speaking, "You two aren't _just_ a couple of orphans living on the streets... Tell me, do you remember anything about your parents? Grandparents? Aunts or Uncles? Anything?"

The pair merely shook their heads in the negative. Setsuna sighed in disappointment and rubbed her eyes. "Well that makes this harder then... What happened before I brought you here was something you can do because of your parents." The girls looked at her in confusion before she continued, "It's like this; you two used magic."

"Magic? But I thought that only royals could use magic." Ranma was clearly confused.

"Right and wrong... Only those with royal blood can use magic. This does not limit it to just the immediate royal families. Furthermore, every royal family line has a specific type of magic that it specializes in, giving them distinct signatures when detected by magic sensitive scanners." Pluto was using a lecturing tone and had her chin perched on top of her folded hands again. She looked to make sure that they were paying attention and understood. It seemed like they had, but one could never be too sure with children as young as they were. She needed them to understand. If they didn't it would take precious time to educate them so that they would and that would set her plan back years.

"So if we have magic, which are we from?" Nabiki was still wary of the Senshi sitting across from her, but her curiosity was piqued.

"That's the strange thing..." Pluto sighed and rubbed her temples before standing up and beginning to pace slowly. "Neither of you belong to any of the current Royal bloodlines."

"Well if we don't have any royal blood, then how can we have magic?" Ranma tilted her head wondering where this was going. In truth, most of this talk of magic was going over her head even as she tried to follow the conversation.

"Because a little over two and a half centuries ago, there were two more kingdoms in the system, but no one outside of myself and a few others remembers anything about them." She held their attention. They didn't seem to believe her at the moment, but she didn't need them to for now. All she needed was for them to understand. She moved so that she was across the table from them and pulled her time staff out of subspace again before waving it above the surface. The light in the room dimmed and an illuminated holographic diagram of the solar system appeared over the table. Every planet was there, from Mercury to Pluto with the sun in the middle, but there was a dark tenth ball almost double the distance away from the sun as Pluto. Red boxes formed around both the sun and this tenth sphere and larger diagrams of the area inside the boxes appeared above the model.

Setsuna continued in her lecturing tone, "Long ago, during the formative years of the Moon Kingdom, there were eleven kingdoms. Even at this time Earth maintained its independence and neutrality in the various wars waged across the system. As the First Serenity brought the other worlds under her guidance so as to form a kingdom of justice and peace, she appointed a _Senshi_ for each world as it came under her domain." Ranma and Nabiki continued to stare at the diagram, having never seen anything quite like it before.

"Among these, were the Solar Kingdom," Pluto pointed at the magnified image of the sun, which had a tight polygonal grid suddenly form around it but when they looked closer they noticed that the lines were actually tunnels that connected larger station platforms with towers going out from them. They realized that these must be cities or factories. The largest two were centered over what could be considered the "North and South Poles" of the sun and seemed to be drawing the solar fire right off of the surface of the star and into large collectors of some kind.

"and the Kingdom of Eris" Pluto continued, gesturing at the dark grey rock that had also been magnified. The image of the planet changed from grey and lifeless, to a soft gold color on land and blue filled the low ground to create seas, oceans, rivers, and lakes. Large areas that were covered in forests were generally black or dark browns and reds. Cities with golden towers grew on coasts and inland and farmland covered much of the open countryside.

"The Solar Kingdom was largely a manufacturing and trade center, using the raw elements drawn off of the sun to manufacture anything that they needed and using the solar radiation so readily available to power their factories and the shields that kept them safe from the same radiation and the occasional solar flare, while its central location in the system made it an ideal trade port." Setsuna continued, pointing first at the two largest arrays at the poles, then bringing attention to the blue/violet bubbles that surrounded the tunnels and platforms, and finally pointing out the various city centers that had miniature holographic ships going in and out and leaving or entering the visible area of the cube the sun diagram was within.

Moving on to the planet she had named as 'Eris' she continued, "Eris, though the furthest distance from the sun of any other existing kingdom, thrived as an agricultural and resort world. In its time, The Kingdom of Eris generated large cash crops along with its own variety of unique edible plant life that went to feed billions of people every year, while its distance from the core worlds of the system and its naturally golden landscape gave it appeal as a place to 'get away from it all'..." Again, Pluto pointed out areas on the planet's surface indicating the large agricultural areas and the cities and more manicured looking areas of the countryside.

"Like the other kingdoms, when Sol and Eris joined the Moon Kingdom, Serenity appointed Senshi to direct the natural solar and planetary mana. Sol, due to its size, mass, and various other factors, had the greatest mana pool of any other body in the system, and so became the single most powerful Senshi, even over Saturn, and its royal line possessed domains over fire and light based magic. Eris, due to its distance from the sun, and the existence of certain naturally forming magically active crystals unique to the planet, granted its royal line Darkness and Chaos based powers." Setsuna was now looking between the girls, hoping that they understood the connection she was making. It wasn't looking like they were. Ranma asked a single worded question.

"Chaos?"

"In its natural state, without the magic or technology to support life, Eris is a very dark world on its own, being so far from the sun and its natural atmosphere blocking most light from reaching the surface; hence the Darkness affiliation. The crystals I mentioned however, I believe that they were called 'Warp Stones' due to their ability to warp the reality around them, are somehow attuned to chaotic energies and since they form naturally on the planet, they attune its natural ley-lines towards chaotic energies as well as darkness..."

"If they were part of the kingdom, what happened to them? Why aren't they here now?" asked Nabiki as she all but forgot her previous nervousness as she started to piece things together...

"I don't know..." Nabiki looked at her skeptically, "Some two and a half centuries ago, there was a political upheaval. The Reigning Queen at the time decided that as things were, the people would eventually grow opposed to the idea of being ruled by a monarch and reformed the government under her rule to allow the crown more direct control over the lives of the systems citizens and businesses. As far as I have discovered, Sol and Eris opposed these changes with much more hostility than the other kingdoms, but after a certain point, they just disappear. Not a trace of their existence remains aside from the ruins on Eris that no one remembers. The only explanation I have is that some form of magic was used to erase all evidence of them from history and the memories of greater society."

In truth, Pluto had been unable to view the events through the gates, but being attuned to the flow of time, she had recognized the tampering when she saw it. Only before they had disappeared could she see them, and that was only after she pushed past considerable interference from some, as of yet unidentified, magical field, and there was so much temporal 'noise' beyond a certain point where even then she couldn't see anything. If she didn't push past this she would see a modified version of history where the Solar and Eridian kingdoms never existed.

Nabiki nodded that she understood but Ranma was still looking a little lost, "So what's all this got to do with us?"

Pluto sighed and waved her staff again to dismiss the image of the solar system and bring the lights back to normal levels. She needed these two more than they needed her, and she needed them to trust her so she couldn't just force them to do what she wanted. Oh sure they would be better off with her in the long run, but they knew how to get by on their own. Now it was time to convince them that they needed her as much as she needed them, "You," She pointed at Nabiki, "are descended from the royal line of Sol, and you," she pointed at Ranma, "are from the line of Eris. Before I brought you here both of you exhibited powers unique to those lines and the signals you put out when you used them perfectly match those of the royal lines of those kingdoms."

The effect on the two wasn't quite what she had expected, or had hoped for. Nabiki looked like she was getting with the program, slowly, but she was getting there, but Ranma just looked confused. Eventually Nabiki spoke, "So... What you're saying is that we can use magic because we are from two long forgotten kingdoms that don't exist according to history?"

Setsuna was getting frustrated, but she worked to keep it out of her voice, "Not just magic, but magic at Senshi levels..."

3... 2... 1... "Wait... Are you saying that we're 'Senshi'?" Ranma had a dark gleam in her eye that unsettled Pluto slightly, and the almost smirk she was wearing wasn't helping.

"No... Not yet. And certainly not unless you learn how to access the extent of your powers, but both of you have enough magical potential where you could become the Senshi of Sol and Eris." It wasn't a total lie. They could access their Senshi powers already, they already had, but unless they learned how to control those powers whenever they wanted to they would never reach a level where they would be considered full Senshi.

There was silence once more for a few moments before Nabiki caught on, "And you can teach us how to become Senshi?" Pluto nodded, "And what do you get out of this?"

Pluto let the ghost of a smile grace her lips as she sat back down. The brunette was smarter than she let on. "When you two get old enough and proficient enough in the use of your powers you will work for me. I will provide you with room and board while on Pluto and supply enough money for modest accommodations whenever you are on a mission on one of the other worlds. You will also be given a modest income, enough to afford some of the things you would want. In return for this and your education, you will go on missions for me and do what I want when I want you to do it. You will work as spies some of the time, bodyguards at others, and assassins at others still. Whatever the mission entails is necessary for success."

"And why should we kill for you? What makes you better than the Sailor Scouts?" Nabiki was looking at Pluto through narrowed eyes. She didn't exactly like where this was going. The deal was almost _too_ good...

Setsuna just let her smile manifest completely on her lips. "I am not 'better' than the _Sailors_," She began, again spitting out the word like it was a curse, "because I have done things in my past that I'm not proud of... But what makes me _different_ than them is that I do what I do in an effort to bring justice back to the kingdom instead of claiming that my power as a Senshi gives me some divine right to crush those who oppose me under my heals..." she said, adding a growl to the last bit. Her face took on an emotionless, calculating, mask as she said the next, "As to why you should help me? You two don't know it but after I brought you here I did some light background checks on you. Both of you have been legally dead for almost five years. So, you have nothing to lose but your lives if you go back to the streets, and everything to gain by helping me overthrow the system that threw you out of your homes, killed your parents, and marked you as dead..." after all, revenge is a powerful motivator...

Setsuna saw the dark gleam in Ranma's eyes intensify and her almost smirk become an outright evil grin at that and Nabiki's face became a blank mask, her eyes, icy brown pools. Finally the two turned to look at each other and an unspoken conversation seemed to pass between them in that moment. They nodded to each other and turned to look at Sailor Pluto and said, "We're in." with hard looks in their eyes.

Pluto didn't let it show on her face, but she had an evil grin to match Ranma's in her mind...

-o-o-o-o-o-

-End Prologue-

-o-o-o-o-o-

End Notes: Wow... A bit longer than any other chapter I've written before. Almost 10k words... I think that the more I write the longer my chapters will be... That's not a bad thing in my opinion though...

Ok, for those of you who haven't figured it out yet, this story is taking place during the silver millennium in the PAST. That means that things will be a bit different. I'll try not to make the characters into Mary Sue's or Marty Stu's though, but this is a bit of an experiment of mine in tearing down what the characters are on the outside and rebuilding them with that same core set of principles...

Why is Ranma a girl you ask? Because, as has been done in countless fuku-fics before, Ranma was born a girl during the Silver Millennium. I don't really think that I should need to point this out, but I get the feeling that if I don't I'll get a bunch of people mad at me for writing "Ranma-Chan", which is technically true in this particular instance but please wait for me to get to part two of the story before you string me up (And I don't mean chapter two, I mean the next part as in multiple fics planned)...

PS: This is actually a revised version of the original text… Nothing major, just some spelling and grammar corrections along with cleaning up some of the dialogue, but I thought some people might want to know…


	2. Chapter 1:What the Future Brings

Legal Stuff

1) The Characters and Stories of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ are Copyright © Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi respectively, and are used here without permission or license.

2) No claims to the above copyrights are made by the author of this work.

3) This is a work written for non-commercial use ONLY, and is not to be reproduced.

4) This work is the expression of the author, and the depictions of the characters of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ herein are in no way represented to be a part of _Ranma ½ _or _Sailor Moon_ as depicted by the original authors and copyright holders.

Beginning Notes: Some of you know this, but some of you don't... This is the re-write of the original chapter two which I took down from public viewing a couple of hours after I first posted it. It's a bit longer than before and those who managed to read it before I took it down will notice that I end it at a different point. The last roughly one third of the original has been removed and will now have elements of it integrated into the beginning of chapter three. I've basically rewritten new content for everything past about the first quarter of text and what I've moved to chapter three from this chapter will be rewritten to fit better with what I've written here...

(V. 2.3)

**The Dark Side of the Moon**

By: Almech Alfarion (Child of Fire)

Chapter I: What the Future Brings

-o-o-o-o-o-

Bright lights, soft music, exquisite food, and lavish clothing. These were the main elements that made up the atmosphere of the three hundred seventy-forth annual gala ball hosted in celebration of the last peace treaty signed between the Earth and Moon Kingdoms. The Ballroom of the Terran Star Cruiser _Providence's Will_ was second only to the one in the Royal Palace on Luna, but the immense ship provided a neutral ground between the kingdoms at its position at the First Lagrangian Point of the Earth and its only natural satellite. People milled about the room, dancing, gathering in groups along the edges, or going to and from the buffet prepared in a joint effort of both the Moon and Earth Kingdoms' Royal Chefs. A line of windows circling the perimeter of the ceiling provided a view of the proceedings below to those who wished to be here, yet still wanted to be apart from the ball itself.

Some of the attendants weren't here for political schmoozing or to have a good time however. One such individual was standing next to the wet bar, her long brown hair was held behind her ears with decorative pins and her white and gold dress showed off her figure quite nicely. She seemed to be observing the proceedings of the gala, but seemed content to watch as she sipped at a mildly alcoholic beverage that had its origins on Saturn. For some reason, no one came near her as she stood there, and no one thought it odd that such a beautiful woman would be without a partner so no one was close enough to hear her when she spoke to the air out of the side of her mouth.

"Ghost: Status report."

_"__I'm in position Firefly; Targets one two and three are walking away from the buffet towards queen bee; Targets four and five are watching Kingfisher from the corner near the band."_ came the reply over her communicator. "Firefly" interpreted this; Targets one two and three were walking from the buffet towards Queen Serenity while targets four and five were observing the eighteen year old newly crowned King Endymion from the corner near the orchestra pit.

Firefly set down her now empty glass and made her way to intercept the targets.

_"__Target Two has split off from one and three and is making his way to the wet bar."_ said Ghost over the com. Seeing her target, Firefly moved to intercept target two first. She passed him with no one noticing her make the pass and place a data pad she hadn't had before into her subspace pocket after slipping something into one of the pockets on his formal robe. A nasty little device that would make him terribly sick sometime in the next thirty seconds or so, forcing him to leave for the restroom where he would begin to quite literally puke his guts out...

She intercepted Targets one and three before they were half way between the queen bee and the buffet. They would meet similar fates to that of Target two very soon. She headed towards the orchestra pit and her final targets...

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ghost" observed her partner from one of the private rooms along the line of windows circling the ball room. _'__Good... Nabiki's making good progress.'_ She thought as she watched the first three targets make their way out of the ball.

Unlike her partner, Ranma was dressed more for practicality. She was up here instead of Nabiki because she didn't do subtle as well in formal settings, and Nabiki's pick-pocketing skills from their days on the streets made her the better choice for this kind of operation. Her plain black cargo pants, shirt and high-laced boots offered none of the glamour Nabiki's dress did and her hair was in its customary long braid. A semi-transparent visor sat over her eyes, allowing her to scan the throng below more easily. Nabiki was taking care of the last two targets now...

"_Mission_ _Complete. Status: Success."_ Nabiki chirped over her communicator and Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. Endymion was only crowned two weeks ago. Their Intel said that he was ready for the job, but that didn't make their last failure any less painful. Somehow the assassins that killed his father had slipped through Nabiki's information network. Nabiki had been so mad at the failure that she pulled out all the stops to trace where they had come from.

The trace had led them here; Five assassins after the newly crowned king. Their Intel told them that it was some fanatic group with heavy pro-unification leanings. Their goal seemed pretty straight forward. Kill the Terran Royal Family, and then simultaneously strike heavily populated areas on Earth using terror tactics causing planet wide unrest so that the Moon Kingdom would be forced to intervene and annex the planet as the newest member of the Moon Kingdom. They brought this to Setsuna and she approved the mission.

Ranma was rubbing her eyes as she looked away from the room below for the first time since the ball had begun. Plopping down in one of the comfortable chairs positioned for a good view of the far half of the ballroom she readjusted her visor over her eyes and switched to X-Ray just to have some fun and see what was going on in the rooms on the other side. _'__Private party... Private party... Teenage make out session... business deals... Lone person standing next to the window while looking down the length of a rifle... private party... Wait what?'_

"NIX'S LANCE! I repeat, NIX'S LANCE! Our Intel was OFF! Sixth previously unknown possible Hostile located! Subject appears to have some kind of long-range firearm! I'm calling off Mission Silence! Find someplace to go ZERO and get Kingfisher out of there!"

As Ranma screamed this into her com, she was running out of the private room and activating her ZERO Armour; a magical power armor summoned in a similar manner to her Senshi Armour, but less powerful due to the necessity to suppress her magical output. It had been developed for them by the scientists on Pluto for situations where there was a high chance of running into the Queen's Sailor Scouts because revealing themselves as Senshis Eris and Sol to the Queen was too dangerous at this time. A digital wireframe overlay of her ZERO Armour formed around her, soon followed by the materialization of the Armour itself. A glossy black and metallic gold full body-suit with matching power gauntlets, plated boots, and armor plates for her chest, back, and legs materialized over her clothes while a matching full helmet with antenna that looked like long, swept back, pointed ears materialized over her head making the braid coming out of the back of the helmet the only visible part of her body.

Picking up speed with the power of the transformation, Ranma ran as fast as she could towards her target and prayed she got there before they realized the original targets had already been taken care of...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Nabiki cursed when she heard the code phrase over her communicator. It referred to a particularly intense "Hot Drop" training exercise on Nix a few years back that dealt with faulty intel in a live fire zone with particular focus on protecting an individual from snipers. She had hoped to never have to apply it practically but fate seemed to have conspired against them…

She made her way outside the ball room as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. Magical illusion to make it so people ignored her or not, running out would have drawn attention. Finding a secluded corner and making sure no one was around to see, she activated her ZERO Armour. It matched Ranma's in design, but was patterned in white and gold instead. Her hair fanned out behind her as she ran back to the ball.

She made her way as quickly as she could towards Endymion once inside. Stealth was no longer a priority and people were screaming and dodging out of her way as she ran towards the young King. She ignored the flashes of light that signified that the Sailor Scouts who were in attendance had summoned their fuku's and was just about to reach Endymion when her com chirped again.

_"__Target confirmed! He's going to make the shot before I can get to him! Get Kingfisher out of there!"_

-o-o-o-o-o-

Endymion was trying to enjoy himself. The recent death of his father still weighed on his mind, but his advisors had said that he should attend this ball for political reasons if nothing else. He needed to be seen as strong in the eyes of the people, which meant that he needed to be seen by the people as doing something.

So here he was, chatting with dignitaries. He hated it. Most of them either wanted something from him or wanted him personally. Senator Beryl was coming on particularly strong... Something was making him edgy though, but he couldn't quite place what it was. The food was good, and the music was pleasant, so what was setting him on edge?

He saw princess Usagi nervously walking towards him out of the corner of his eye. He had to silently chuckle at that name because it made her the "Rabbit on the Moon" if one spoke or understood Saturnian. For being such a hard assed bitch, the current Serenity had a decent sense of humor, but he still felt sorry for the princess because the joke wouldn't leave her until she took her mother's place and became the next Serenity.

Rumor had it that the thirteen year old was nothing like her mother. Kind and caring, always concerned for others, and a bit of a crybaby. That's what they said she was like, so it wasn't a surprise that she looked so nervous at the moment.

"K-king Endymion?" The voice broke him out of his musings and he looked down to see that the subject of his thoughts was standing in front of him.

"How may I help you princess?" He genuinely wondered what she wanted. She was still too young to enter the political arena, so that couldn't be it...

"I was... was wondering if you –" Her words were cut short by a scream that came from near the main doors to the ball room. People were running and clearing an isle in front of what had caused the commotion. A female figure in white and gold armor was charging straight at him. Four flashes lit different parts of the room as the Inner Scouts manifested their armor to take care of the threat, but they were too far away to get to it before it got to him.

He would have been just fine on his own, but the princess had frozen at the sight of the threat. Thinking fast, he grabbed her in an effort to protect her just before the figure reached him. He didn't expect the figure to leap towards him at the last second and tackle him to the ground, with him still holding the princess. A loud booming crack was heard over the screams just after the figure tackled him and the floor a few feet away from him exploded in a pattern similar to what he knew to be what old conventional powder weapons made when they struck their targets and not a moment after that one of the windows along the ceiling shattered and two figures tumbled through the air and hit the ground. One was wearing black and gold armor that matched the style of the white and gold figure on top of him, while the other was wearing some kind of military uniform and had its head covered by a mask. The bent ruins of a rifle lay on the ground a few feet away from them.

The figure on top of him got up to assist its companion and only then did he notice that he was lying on top of the princess. She had a far off look in her eyes as she stared up at him. He quickly got off of her and helped her to her feet and then assessed the situation. _'__Two unidentified armored figures, one taking care of one unidentified militant and the other getting up from its fall, so which are the assassins?'_

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ranma groaned, but no one but she could hear it due to the closed system her helmet provided with Nabiki's ZERO Armour and Setsuna's communications network. She ran into some patrolling security officers when she was making her way to her target and subduing them quickly without raising the alarm had still taken a sufficient amount of time to allow him to realize that the gig was up and take the first shot before she could reach him. She had struggled with the assassin for a moment after that in order to stop him from making a second but he tripped and pulled both of them out of the window and she had landed hard on her shoulder when she fell. Looking around as she rolled onto her knees, she saw Nabiki getting up off of King Endymion and going over to the assassin's unconscious form and quickly searching his pockets. _'__Good, she got him out of the way in time... Ah shit...'_

The Inner Sailor Scouts and Queen Serenity were out in full force. They were forming a perimeter around them and charging up spells in case of hostilities while moving to box them in and Ranma had a good idea why. It wasn't every day that two figures in concealing armor crashed a ball, not to mention that the armoured figures had a small reputation on Venus and Jupiter for causing a little trouble at a military base or two, though thankfully they were still nothing more than rumors. The only thing that would make it worse would be if Sailors Neptune or Uranus were here. They sure as hell _weren't_ rumors on those worlds and Ranma was sure that those two in particular wanted blood for what she and Nabiki had done to the naval yards in Poseidon a year ago...

'_Ah, good times...'_ She opened a channel to Nabiki, "Firefly, we got us a problem. Queen Bee and the Cheerleaders are taking an interest in our handiwork..."

_"__Roger that Ghost, I see them... I'm almost done... Hmmm... I'll need to analyze this when we get somewhere safe..." _Ranma looked over to see that Nabiki was finishing a download on a data pad she had found on the assassin before she slipped her own back into a subspace pocket after scanning the rifle and several items he had on him. Her white armored double looked around for a moment before she spoke again, _"__I'm going to pull some theatrics first, but I recommend Escape Plan: Theta._"

"Understood Firefly, I will wait for your signal." She finished standing up and prepared to run when her partner rolled the still unconscious assassin onto his stomach, picked him up by his collar, and began to drag him towards Endymion...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Endymion was still on guard, especially when he saw the figure pull a data pad out of what he recognized as a subspace pocket. That kind of tech was expensive for single troops, and the armor didn't look cheap either. Whoever these people were, they were professionals, and they had backing, and there were _very_ few people who could afford that sort of thing at the level these armored mysteries' seemed to possess. So when he saw the figure that had tackled him start to drag the man she had been searching moments before towards him as its black double finished standing up he moved in front of the still somewhat stunned princess in a defensive gesture.

What he didn't expect was the figure stopping a little ways in front of him and lobbing the unconscious form towards him so that it landed a few feet in front of him. He could only stare at the spectacle in front of him. The armored figure clearly wanted him to take it, probably to have his people interrogate.

He looked back up in time to see the white figure saluting him in a distinctly non military fashion, as if to say "Good Luck" before the light around it seemed to bend and it disappeared. Its partner disappeared in a similar manner, only instead of light, shadows seemed to reach towards it, and twist around the figure, before it too disappeared without a trace.

"I want a full squad of Magi in here NOW! Those two were using magic and I want them found NOW before they can get away! Full interrogations when we find them. Move People! They can't hide forever!" Queen serenity yelled over the shocked throng.

That added a new dimension to the Earth King's worries as the people around him broke up and began to filter out of the ball room. The ball was over with this incident. He had a feeling that this would force him to miss a lot of sleep in the coming weeks as he worked to figure out what had happened tonight. He called to his own men to take the unconscious body lying in front of him to a safe place and to interrogate him when he woke up even as the Sailor Scouts dashed off to complete their own orders from their queen.

If those two had been using magic, though, then they were beyond what he had originally presumed about them. Earth had no mages itself, its royal line not being linked to the planet's mana like those of the other planets, but he knew that every citizen in the Moon Kingdom with enough magic potential to be able to use it was closely watched for signs of development to be taken away for officially sanctioned training if they managed to use magic on their own. Even then though, some slipped through the cracks, and those individuals were usually extremely dangerous whenever they were caught...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Corridor after corridor passed as Ranma made her way as stealthy as she could to the rendezvous point. Even with the cloaking magic, other mages could sense her as long as they were near enough. She had already had a couple close calls with the ever vigilant Sailor Scouts. After Nabiki had disappeared she had lost her partner completely, but she knew that her friend was close by. They were always close, even after Setsuna had brought them in, and the times that they were not, she felt empty, and she didn't feel empty now. It was strange, in a way, the connection she felt with the brunette. It had just seemed to grow as their magic had grown, until she was able to point straight at Nabiki as long as they were within a mile or so of each other, but it wasn't like the magic sense that every magic user had. It was stronger and more distinct, even though she couldn't tell exactly where her friend was at the moment due to the same dampening systems that kept her location hidden from her pursuers. More guards came around the corner ahead of her, shaking her out of her thoughts.

'_Hmmmmm... Too easy.' _She thought, smiling to herself, as the guards walked by the alcove she was in with their magic detecting scanners. It reminded her of what Ms. Meiou had told them when they had received their first ZERO Armour suits as she left the alcove and continued with no one the wiser...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Twelve years ago -

"So where are we going?" Ranma asked as she and Nabiki followed their green haired guardian down a corridor with plain metal walls and the occasional security door off to the side somewhere under Castle Pluto that they hadn't been to before. They had learned quite a bit in their two years on Pluto and they were learning more every day. Magic and alchemy studies had been compounded with history, language, mathematics, and self defense courses. Nabiki seemed to love it, but it constantly frustrated the older girl that she was so much better than her in the more physical pursuits, and she had an uncanny knack for taking magical theory and turning it into something usable that would never have occurred to Nabiki. Despite this though, Ranma watched in awe as her brown haired friend devoured the rest of their studies, completely outstripping her in mathematics, alchemy, and language, already having mastered Plutonian, Jovian, and Terran and already working on Saturnian, in addition to the Lunar Common Standard they had learned growing up, where she was merely proficient in Plutonian and only starting to work on her Terran. Nabiki only allowed her to keep up in their history and spell casting and control lessons because she seemed to have as much trouble as Ranma in those...

Setsuna turned her head and raised an eyebrow at Ranma in a calculating manner as she continued walking, "I've been having some of my people develop something for you two for when you are older. It is still in its development stage, but they have managed to build a model that is usable for the both of you now. You will need to learn how to use it, and the sooner you do the better for everyone..."

Nabiki just looked skeptically at the Senshi before looking at Ranma who just shrugged her shoulders as if saying "The hell if I know..." They were used to this side of the Senshi. The woman could be frustratingly cold and cryptic at times, occasionally hinting at greater truths or knowledge of what is to come. Ranma had a feeling that the older woman was trying to keep her distance from them, but Nabiki wouldn't buy it, saying that that was just who the woman was.

Nabiki once shared her suspicions with her that the Time-Senshi might be using her powers to log their academic progress before hand, and plan the day's lessons around this future knowledge. She had bet Nabiki that she would make their next self defense class more even for her if she was right or Nabiki would take her to watch a junior Rocket-Ball tournament somewhere in Hades if she was wrong. She didn't actually expect her friend to walk up to the green haired woman and ask her.

She ended up trouncing her friend in self defense despite letting up considerably from her normal level, but the small smile she had seen on the Time Senshi's face as Nabiki walked back to her with that satisfied grin raised some questions in her mind...

Here it was again as they followed their guardian to their destination. Ranma couldn't see the woman's face after she had turned forward again, but she had become very good at reading a person's body language. The woman's steps were light and even and her posture was relaxed. Not the stiff, brisk pace she set whenever she was annoyed, stressed, or in a serious mood. It was almost as though she were amused by her question, though it didn't seem to take much to amuse the Time Senshi at times...

Eventually they came to a T intersection that lead off into identical long shiny metal halls to their left and right. In front of them was a large security door that opened to either side when Setsuna entered a pass code into the panel attached to it. Behind was a rather large room that appeared to be some sort of fabrication lab. Piles of paper and what Ranma presumed to be parts for whatever technology was being developed here sat on large tables along with the various tool chests, cabinets, saws, lathes, drill presses, and other industrial machines while people wearing lab coats, goggles and other protective clothing moved from place to place occasionally carrying something, or sitting at one of the tables while writing something, working with the machines or working on some piece of equipment or other.

Ranma took this all in as Setsuna lead them to a secure cabinet near the back of the lab where she entered another code into the panel to the side. As the panels slid up, they revealed what looked to be a pair of matte grey skin tight suits along with sets of matching metal plates and a pair of gauntlets, plated boots, what looked like a thin bracelet, and an open faced helmet for each of them.

Ranma and Nabiki looked on curiously as Setsuna began to speak, "These are the Mark One: Zero Environment, Reactive Output Armour Systems, or ZERO Armour for short. They are designed based off of a Senshi's armor, but with a few features that they don't have. Once you put them on and activate your magic for the first time, they will link to you and you will be able to summon them in the same manner as your Senshi Armour... Yes Nabiki?"

Nabiki had raised her hand when she heard the last sentence and was looking at Setsuna in confusion, "Um... Neither of us can summon Senshi Armour yet, so how would we be able to use this?"

Setsuna got a strange gleam in her eye and Ranma thought she saw the corner of her mouth twitch up a moment before her answer came, "While neither of you have successfully summoned your Senshi Armour yet these suits work a little differently." She reached into the cabinet and removed both of the bracelet like objects and handed one to Nabiki and the other to Ranma, "Until you are able to summon your armour on your own, these will provide a link to your suits through your magic. While wearing them on either wrist, twist it in a full rotation with the intent of activating the transformation firmly placed in your mind to activate them. To dismiss the armour, you simply will it away the same way as I have explained you will do once you are able to summon your Senshi Armour... Yes Ranma?"

Now it was Ranma's turn. Questions were coming to her as their guardian spoke and the one that was nagging at her the most came up first, "Umm... If we'll be able to use our Senshi Armour eventually, what do we need these for?"

Ranma thought she saw that almost smile on the older woman again before she began speaking, "Good question. The reason I had my people develop these is twofold. One, they will give you practice with your magic associated with your Senshi Armor before you are able to use it, and two, it will help keep you hidden when out on missions with a high probability of running into one of the Sailor Scouts or other mages loyal to the Queen."

Ranma and her friend were both looking at Setsuna in confusion now, so the woman continued in a lecturing tone, "As you both know, any sufficiently trained mage is able to sense the presence of other magic users around them, even more so if that person happens to be a Senshi and in their active, armoured state at the time because they are both more powerful, and the resonance of a Senshi's magic is slightly different than that of a normal mage but not enough to be identifiable in an inactive state. What these suits do to prevent the Queen, Sailor Scouts or any other mage from identifying you is suppress and scramble your outward magical projection instead of enhancing the amount of power you can use like your Senshi Armor would, even while it draws on your internal magic to reinforce its own defensive capabilities and passively enhance your physical capabilities. Casting offensive or external spells will be harder to do because of this and make it easier for more powerful scanning devices to get a more accurate reading on your magical signatures, but spells you cast on yourselves should mostly be unaffected."

Ranma and Nabiki were looking with greater interest at the grey suits before them. Through their training, they knew that it took a lot of effort to suppress their own powers to the point where a mage couldn't sense them when they weren't casting spells. That had been the first thing they had learned in their magical education because it wouldn't do if they went into the city and an inquisitor tagged them as unregistered magic users. For these suits to use technology to suppress their magic and still allow them to cast spells was amazing.

Setsuna motioned to one of the people in a lab coat with some kind of marking on his shoulders and collar that identified him as higher ranking than most of the others and he came to stand next to them. He was of average height and build and had thinning silver/purple hair, but otherwise looked remarkably young as he held out his hand for them to shake, "Greetings. My name is Doctor Carl Stanhope. I worked with Lady Pluto originally when she proposed the concept for the ZERO Armour System. When I got her call earlier today that she was bringing you two down here, I asked if I could be the one to walk you through how to use them, and to explain to you what to do if you encounter any problems. After all, this is still highly experimental."

He smiled warmly at them even as their faces fell. Ranma was very nervous after hearing that there could be problems, but she didn't really have a choice in the matter. She and Nabiki had learned early on that there were some aspects of their magic that would be closed to them without their armor and Setsuna had said earlier that this would allow them to practice with that magic so she paid close attention when Stanhope began talking again, "Now I see that both of you already have one of the activator bracelets, so if you could put those on your wrists we can begin..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Present -

Nabiki had reached the rendezvous point some ten minutes ago. She knew that Ranma wouldn't be able to follow her exactly after she had activated her cloaking magic. Along with their projected magical aura, the suits seemed to dull their magic senses a little, meaning that while a mage needed to be right next to them in order to sense them it also dulled their own more personal awareness of each other to the point where they only knew where the other was when within a few feet of each other. So it was with no small amount of surprise that she felt Ranma come up from behind and place a hand on her shoulder while she was still cloaked without her even noticing that their connection was back.

Nabiki almost jumped and attacked her younger friend when this happened before she realized that it was Ranma and not one of their pursuers. She had been just leaving the ballroom as Serenity had given her orders to have them tracked down and the guard coverage between there and the small cargo bay near the back of the ship that they were in now was intense. But instead of seeing an armored soldier or one of the Queen's Sailors when she turned around she saw the twisting shadows of Ranma's Shadow Cloak spell receding as she deactivated her cloaking magic to reveal the black and gold armor she wore even as the smaller girl made the hand signals to stay quiet. While their magical signal couldn't be tracked, any communications transmissions between them could be, even if they couldn't break through the encryption layers.

Nabiki deactivated her own cloak as Ranma pulled a small golden ball from her subspace compartment. It was another little device that Dr. Stanhope had made for them called a scrambler. Based off of the redhead's chaos magic, it would generate a powerful chaotic residue and make the signature left by a teleport untraceable. Ranma twisted it around the middle to activate it and for a moment something like a multi color fog poured out of the ball before she twisted it the other way leaving the area around them resembling a quickly fading techno-color fog bank.

Ranma held out her arm for Nabiki to grab on to before activating her teleportation magic and they both disappeared from the ship.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Twisting colors and a feeling of literally being dragged everywhere were all Nabiki felt for a few moments before it suddenly stopped and she collapsed on her hands and knees after letting go of Ranma's arm. Panting heavily, she dismissed her ZERO Armour before collapsing onto the living room floor of their safe-house in Ares completely and rolling onto her back while clutching her stomach. She laid her head back onto the soft carpeting to try to help alleviate the pounding headache she usually associated with having had too much liquor before saying "I'm never going to get used to that am I..."

Ranma dismissed her own ZERO Armour and flopped down into one of the chairs with a sigh before replying. "If you aren't used to it by now then I'd say no..."

Nabiki just groaned and rubbed her eyes. She hated it whenever she had to teleport with Ranma. It always made her feel sick and tired and gave her the worst migraines, but her own light based teleport was much easier to track, even through chaos magic interference, and Ranma's shadow shift power could only be used in the immediate area or for short distance jumps. Getting up and moving to sit down on the couch she took her data pad and five others out of her subspace pocket. "While we're here we may as well go over some of this data..." she said with a sigh while connecting the extra pads to hers.

Ranma pulled her own pad out of subspace and connected it to their network with her own sigh. "I don't see why you can't just send this to Setsuna's or your own people to have them analyze it..."

"I know, but I like to look over things first." was Nabiki's response. Ranma sent her a dirty look and she just tiredly grinned back. While her own information network was very good at digging up information that others didn't want found and Ms. Meiou's was even better, she liked to see what was going on with her own eyes before sending off her analysis to her people to look over further. It also helped them get a better idea of what to look for...

Letting go of a yawn, she turned her attention back to the data in front of her. Most of it was gibberish. Pages and pages of messages, notes, and other assorted data, meaningless by themselves but together forming a greater whole, passed before her eyes, even as she felt her concentration wavering with her exhaustion as the minutes passed. She had been awake for well over three days by now, first making last minute changes to the mission plan, then preparing for it and carrying it out, and now she was pushing herself to stay awake with her last legs to the point where her sleep deprivation training wasn't helping her much as she went over the data. In contrast, Ranma was almost wide awake, having been able to get some sleep in before the mission. She felt herself slipping off to sleep as something heavy jumped into her lap and dreams of the past began to claim her...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Seven Years Ago -

It was dark in Hades City and Charon was hanging low in the sky while Nix and Hydra claimed higher places for the time being. Nabiki could see the scant rays of sunlight indicating that a bright plutonian morning was still a few hours away, just over the horizon. Surprisingly despite being the smallest planet in the system Pluto rotated in such a way that its rotation took almost six and a half earth days on average. Despite this difference in periods of light and darkness, everyone in the Lunar Kingdom used the same yearly calendar and twenty four hour day time frame that Earth did, no matter what planet or moon they were on at the time, so the different periods of light and darkness didn't change the fact that Nabiki's watch told her that it was 2:47 in the afternoon. Nabiki always thought that it was odd that they used the Earth calendar instead of a decimal based system considering that Terra was only a protectorate, but beyond that she gave such thoughts little importance. It was minor compared to what Ms. Meiou was teaching them, but today even those thoughts were pushed to the side.

Today was Ranma's fifteenth birthday and Ms. Meiou had given them the whole day off. Her birthday gift was taking her younger friend to a game of Rocket-Ball and she had been able to get them front row seats. Pluto's Rocket-Ball circuit wasn't nearly as advanced as those of the inner planets, and this game was a minor league match, but that didn't make the fast paced sport any less popular.

The seats that Nabiki had gotten were at what could roughly be termed ground level outside of the outdoor stadium they were in. More seats rose into bleachers behind them, but in front of them was a seven meter deep oval depression with brown stone walls and a packed dirt floor, fifty meters across at its furthest ends, narrowing to about thirty five meters in the middle and providing an illuminated contrast to the dark stands, which Ranma told her was called "The Pit". Nabiki knew enough about the sport to know that it was officially called an "Arena" but the shorter redhead sitting to her right was a fanatic who tried to play the game as often as she could and knew the slang that players and fans used from front to back.

The players, three to a team, had already walked into the center of the pit where a softball sized ball called a "Quip", or "Jerry" as Ranma called it for whatever reason, hovered about half a meter above the field. She didn't know the players, or as Ranma called them, "Pit Dogs" names, not having paid attention to the announcers, but the six people surrounding the quip in the middle of the field only wore simple shin and arm guards over their uniforms for protection and each carried a long pole, which Ranma surprisingly didn't have an alternate name for, called a "Racket". The shaft that they held onto was a little short of a meter long. Attached to one end was a wide hammer head, called a "Maul" by Ranma, while attached to the other end and adding about half a meter of length to the racket was a scoop like head, which Ranma called a "peeler", which was roughly ten centimeters wide for its entire length and deepest in the middle at about five centimeters but tapering off and flattening out to form a basket like shape as it neared the ends. The racket was used to pass the quip to teammates or to try to put the it into the opposing goals, called "Jerry Holes" by Ranma, which were circular holes about a meter in diameter set at the far ends and just above the pit's floor, using either the hammer head to strike the quip at your target, or to catch it with the peeler and either carry it or make a shot or pass by flinging it outward, which happened quite often in a game considering that there was a rule that unless the player was standing still they couldn't hold onto the quip for more than five seconds, and each team would make sure that standing still would be nearly impossible...

The game was just starting now. The pit dogs were doing some last minute stretches and posturing to the opposing team before the quip was suddenly launched high into the air and fell back down where it was intercepted by someone's maul before it had the chance to reach the ground. From then on it was like watching some chaotic dance as the ball moved at nearly blinding speeds from player to player as they ran around the pit, occasionally bouncing off of the wall as part of a combination move. Within the first five minutes alone it had traded sides seven times and each player was sporting bruises from when they had been checked by another player or hit with the speeding jerry as it flew through the air, only occasionally being to block an attempt to score. Hitting another player with a racket, however, was grounds for a foul so there were no bruises from that. One side managed to score three times and secured the win for this set. There were still eight sets to go before the match's winner would be decided though...

To Nabiki's right, Ranma was leaning forward, almost going over the low barrier that separated them from the pit. She had an almost manic grin on her face and her eyes showed an excitement that Nabiki could barely begin to fathom. She liked the sport. It was fun to watch and ok to play as long as she was on the same team as Ranma, but she didn't have the same obsession that her friend had for it. Manic fan or not though, she was enjoying the game, and the fact that Ranma seemed to be having as much fun, if not more, as she was made her happy that her friend was enjoying herself...

A little less than half an hour passed before the third set ended. Ranma sat back down as the announcer loudly proclaimed that the first intermission would have a couple of the local pee-wee teams going at it. The red head smiled as Nabiki stood up to stretch. It had only been a couple years ago, but Ranma had played with and against both of the teams playing in the pit below. She was much too old for that league now, but they were still fond memories, even though she had never actually officially been accepted into a team. Setsuna had told them that joining a team would be dangerous because such records were still looked into by the Queen's enforcers to check for people that didn't have a past like they did, but Ranma was definitely good enough where one of the teams would let her play a match or two with them every once in a while if she wanted to with no questions asked...

The pee-wee's weren't nearly as good as the older pit dogs that had been playing before, but Nabiki knew that everyone had to start somewhere. In fact, she could see the raw talent that would take them to the top if nurtured correctly in a couple of them even now. She stretched again before heading to the bathroom to return a few minutes later.

By the time she retook her seat, Nabiki had missed the rest of the pee-wee's and the main match was just beginning again with set number four and Ranma began her ascent over the edge of the pit with that grin firmly in place once more...

By the time the sixth set ended Ranma was nearly jumping up and down with excitement. Both teams were neck and neck with equal wins and losses. She sat back down and took a sip of the drink she had bought a few minutes ago. The announcer's magically magnified voice washed over them as the players walked off the field for a short break, "Ladies and gentlemen, that's the end of Set Number Six! My-oh-my, what an exciting game this has been!" Down below there was a woman walking out onto the field carrying a long, colorful box. When she reached the middle she held it up for everyone to see and the announcer continued, "Now ladies and gentlemen, we will have the match drawing. If your seat number is called you will have the chance to win this brand new, state of the art, Rocket-Racket. It's the latest design, guaranteed not to slip in your grip and new technology in the shaft helps give you that extra kick when you let that quip fly! And now the drawing!" a drum roll was played over the stadium and a few seconds passed before it ended with a flourish and the announcer came back on, "And the Lucky spectator with the chance to win this wonderful Racket is seat number A-47! Would the spectator in seat A-47 please come to the ticket booth where you will be directed to the Arena!"

Ranma had gone ridged when the announcement had been made. It took Nabiki a moment to figure out why... The redhead was in seat A-47. This was almost too much for her to handle and if she hadn't known better, Nabiki would have had to say that Ranma had used her chaos magic to tip the odds in her favor, but the younger girl wasn't nearly that proficient with her powers yet, and she hadn't felt a spike of magical energy from her friend either...

Slowly, Ranma stood up from her seat and walked towards the ticket booth. By the time Nabiki saw her walk onto the field the redhead had calmed down considerably, but anyone who knew the newly turned fifteen year old like Nabiki did knew the focused look on her face and what it meant for anyone who got in her way if she had a racket in her hands and there was a jerry in the air...

Nabiki was tuning out what the announcer was saying, completely focusing on Ranma. She hoped that the girl wouldn't do anything foolish or showboat too much. Hoping for the girl to not show off at all was usually an exercise in futility...

Down in the center of the field stood Ranma with the prize racket that was all but guaranteed to be hers by the end of this charade in her hands. On either end of the pit, defending the jerry holes was one pit dog from each team. Apparently, to win, you needed to score past this defender like a penalty shot. If it was a penalty shot then Ranma would have three tries at each goal and in order to win she would have to score in both goals...

For anyone else this would be very difficult, but Ranma was another story entirely. By the time they were twelve Nabiki had been sure that if she had had the opportunity, Ranma could have stood on even turf with one of the inner system prow league players, and she had only gotten better since then. This wasn't even a contest.

Down on the field, the woman who had held up the prize was handing Ranma a quip. Ranma took it with a nod and placed it in the peeler. Nabiki knew what was coming next, but the crowd was in for a show. The defender seemed to be saying something to Ranma. Reading lips was an easy enough thing to learn, considering that Nabiki was already fluent in every in-system language besides Mercurian, which was unnecessarily complex in her opinion. The dark glint she saw creeping into Ranma's eyes through her game-face was understandable if she had read his lips right. He had apparently called her a little girl who should just go home and let the men play a man's sport. Nabiki almost pitied the poor fool...

Slowly, Ranma raised the racket so that it was level with the ground with the shaft tucked under her arm and the maul just behind her shoulder. In a sudden upward motion the ball was airborne. As it fell, she quickly spun the racket around so that the peeler was now behind her head with the shaft held in both hands as she prepared her attack. What happened next was hard to follow for most of the spectators. They had been expecting her to make her three shots and move on, but after she had caught the quip with her peeler and launched it towards the goal it was little more than an indistinct afterimage of the flying projectile as it streaked across the field. The defender didn't have a chance to even lift his racket to try to deflect the speeding ball as it passed close enough to his head to move his hair with its wake before going into the goal. He was standing frozen where he stood mere centimeters from being concussed by the redhead when he felt another, less intense yet still quite powerful, gust of wind pass on the other side of his head as she reached up with her peeler to catch the returning jerry before he fell down to land on his backside in shock.

Now normally there was a net in the back of a jerry hole to catch the quip when a goal is made. What most people don't know, or don't pay enough attention to care about though, is that there is usually a small lip around the edge of the net in the back. Ranma had aimed the ball so that it would ricochet off of this lip and come back out so that it would pass by the other side of his head on purpose. Nabiki knew that in Ranma's mind, justice had been served for the slight against her feminine pride.

Down on the field Ranma had turned towards the other defender. She still had the quip nested in her peeler and was spinning the racket around in arcs that were slow enough so that it wouldn't fly out unless she stopped her spinning and let it fall. Her second opponent was visibly nervous, but much better prepared to face her than the first had been. He was holding his racket up in a defensive manner but it still wouldn't be enough. Spinning her racket around one last time she flung the quip into the air once more. On its return she used her maul to strike the ball so that it would hit the wall just to the left of the goal, but close enough to look like it would go in to the defender, using her first of three shots. By the time the ball returned to Ranma from the ricochet he was badly out of position having fallen for the fake-out and she neatly put it in the jerry hole with her peeler using her second shot.

To say that the crowd was stunned was an understatement. Here was a teenage girl who had just thoroughly handed seasoned players their own asses. Minor league players sure, but still people who were good at what they did. Spinning the racket around and resting it across her shoulders, Ranma walked out of the pit as the announcer proclaimed her the winner and made a few more announcements, snapping the crowd out of their stunned silence and whispered conversations sprang up like wildfires. A few minutes later the volume level had risen slightly as the players were marching back onto the field and Ranma came back to retake her seat next to Nabiki. She had a content smile on her face as she cradled her new implement of fear for whomever so dared to oppose her down in the pit in the future. "Best birthday gift ever..." she whispered so that only Nabiki could hear.

Nabiki just smiled in return. She hadn't planned for this to happen, but it had. It was definitely a good gift, especially for the price at only the cost of the tickets. Good rackets were expensive and at the allowance they currently received from Setsuna she couldn't have afforded one like this. The game resumed, but Ranma showed less enthusiasm for the goings on down in the pit as she had before. She was examining her new acquisition, testing the amount of flex and level of grip the shaft had which were both important to how she played due to her flexible style that involved a lot of changes in her grip and hand position and no small amount of trick shots.

It was almost the end of the ninth set when Nabiki noticed that they were being watched. Some were just curious, but others were looking at Ranma as if considering something. Then it hit her. _'__Of course! This is a minor league match. There are probably a couple talent scouts out here looking for people who might cut it in the majors... Damn this is going to make it harder to duck out after the match...'_ She leaned over to Whisper in Ranma's ear, "When the match is over we need to get lost in the crowd..."

"Hu? Why?" was Ranma's less than disguised reply.

"You seem to have caught the interest of more than a few people who would want to find out who you are of the talent scout variety at least..." She hissed back.

Ranma's face clouded over at this. Talent scouts were bad in their own way because they needed to do thorough background checks on whoever they recruited and usually started before they even approached you. Such searches usually led to questions that they were prepared to answer, but still didn't want to have to... But if it was more than just talent scouts, say an off duty enforcer or two, then they were in real trouble.

The match ended shortly after that and the two of them went about hiding in plain sight. This was an aspect of their training that Setsuna had implemented a couple months after they had first received their Z.E.R.O. suits and had gotten familiar with how they worked, and they were both equally skilled in the arts of not being seen when they didn't want to be, even without the aid of their magic. Caught in the push of the crowd around them, they slowly made their way to the street.

The sun was still a few hours away from coming up, but more light was piercing the magical amplification provided by the planetary environmental wards. At this point in the Plutonian day the refraction of the amplified sunlight turned the sky into a tie-dye swirl of every color. The day would be bright and sunny when the sun fully came up due to the wards, despite the fact that the sun itself would still be a small bright speck in the sky. For now though, the two of them walked down the street and away from inquisitive eyes. Ranma was holding her prize so that it wouldn't be visible above the heads of the crowd and they slowly made their way to the nearest alleyway and ducked out of sight.

Half an hour later they were walking down a street in another part of the city. Ranma had found something to wrap her new racket in to help hide it from view and a few straps that she tied to the shaft, making a sling, so she could carry it on her back. It was getting close to supper time and they had stopped at a street vendor a few minutes ago and were now munching on a sort of fruit filled pastry that was supposed to be quite popular on Venus while slowly making their way back to Charon Castle. They were walking past a side street when they heard a loud noise and something that sounded like a muffled scream.

Looking around to make sure that no one was looking they ducked into the deeper darkness of the side street and followed the noise to where they thought it had come from. What they found wasn't what they had expected. Cornered between a dumpster and the wall of a building by a pack of stray dogs was a very small orange cat with slightly darker orange stripes. What surprised them was the human like expression on the cat's face and the circular patch of brown fur in the center of its forehead.

This meant that it wasn't a cat, but a Mau, and one that wasn't bound to a mage either if the absence of a symbol on its forehead were any indicator, and judging by the ruffled state of its fir and the amount of dirt it had on it, it probably didn't have a home either. Mau were rare, and ones that weren't bound were even rarer, but at the same time they were intelligent beings who qualified for citizenship, even if they couldn't make it any better than second class citizens like any other 'non human' race that took up residence among the planets of the Sol System and they had their lives even more closely monitored than even most of those due to their highly magical nature. Even the Mau in the royal courts primarily took on secondary roles regardless of the significantly better treatment they received than their peers.

Nabiki and Ranma had a choice to make. They could either leave it here and walk away like nothing had happened or they could help it and suffer whatever consequences would come from it. If they helped it they ran the very high risk of someone tracking it back to them and if they accidently bound it to one of them then the symbol that would claim its forehead would be a beacon for anyone looking for an unregistered mage because mages for Sol or Eris weren't supposed to exist at all. Looking at each other for a moment they came to a silent agreement and nodded to each other with grim looks appearing on their faces.

Ranma was in motion before Nabiki and had her new racket in her hands faster that Nabiki would have thought possible for anyone else. Using the peeler she picked up a large piece of masonry that had fallen off of a wall and flung it at one of the dogs, making it yelp in pain and start to run away. At the same time, Nabiki had charged in, grabbing a pipe from a nearby refuse pile and began wielding it like a sword against the dogs. Before thirty seconds had passed every dog was either running away with its tail between its legs while yelping in pain or lying on the ground unconscious.

When they looked around to check on their handiwork they both noticed that the Mau was missing before they heard a clang from behind the dumpster. Walking over Nabiki noticed that there was a small space between the wall and the dumpster where the neo-cat had crawled into. It looked out at her through the darkness with glowing amber eyes and shrank back further into the shadows. Crouching down, she held out her hand in a placating gesture.

It took a few minutes but eventually the Mau came out of its hiding spot and allowed her to pet it. It was young, just old enough where it wasn't a kitten, and obviously hungry. Nabiki still had a little bit of her fruit pastry snack left and gave it to the fur-ball, which it greedily ate up, almost nipping at her fingers. It looked up at her with its pitiful yellow eyes as if asking for more and Nabiki looked at Ranma who just rolled her eyes before handing over the rest of hers. When it was done it began purring and quite forcefully rubbing up against Nabiki's hand. They caught a good enough glimpse of under its raised tail that told them that this one was a girl. "Can you talk?" she asked it in lunar standard.

It stopped its rubbing and looked at her for a moment before shrugging and managing to stutter out "L-litt-le b-it-t" in broken plutonian with a high soprano. Nabiki frowned slightly. A Mau of this one's age should at least be able speak one language fluently but while this one seemed to understand Lunar it had answered in fractured Plutonian telling her that it probably understood both languages but could only speak some of one. She guessed that it was a little over seven months old due to the speed at which the furry aliens matured. Mau matured and learned incredibly quickly even though they were just as long lived as their human companions. If this one ever received an education it would reach the level that she and Ranma were at now in less than a quarter of the time.

"So... where are your parents?" She kindly asked it, switching to Plutonian because that seemed to be its preferred language.

Its face took on a very sad look and it hung its head, "G-gone" was its answer. They could see small tears coming to its eyes and Nabiki reached out and began scratching behind its ears. Gone could very well mean many things but considering its limited vocabulary and the neo-cat's appearance it was probably safe to assume that gone meant dead. After all, it was being chased by dogs when they found it and Mau were notoriously protective of their young. If it had had parents then at least one of them would have been there to protect it unless they thought that it would be safe.

"So... you got a name?" she asked it, not unkindly. It shook its head in the negative as a response, still silently weeping.

Ranma was looking around now with a thoughtful look on her face. "Uh... Nabiki? We gotta go soon. Ms. Meiou is expecting us back in about an hour..."

Nabiki just looked at the Mau and pouted. It was barely older than a kitten and it seemed so lonely. "I gota go now little one. Stay out of trouble ok?" Giving it one last pat on the head and a scratch behind the ears she stood up. She looked back down at the neo-cat which was now looking up at her in confusion. She sighed and began following Ranma out of the alley.

Neither of them noticed as the neo-cat began to follow them with a determined expression on its face, or the way that the brown patch on its forehead seemed to fade into orange to match the rest of its fur, even as parts of it faded further to form a gold circle with a dot in the middle...

- End Flashback -

-o-o-o-o-o-

Conciseness slowly came back to Nabiki. She was going over the end of her dream in her mind, filling in the blanks of what had happened between then and now. The Mau had followed her all the way back to castle Pluto and managed to stay hidden from even Setsuna for three weeks before it found the room she and Ranma shared and Nabiki woke up one morning with the troublemaker curled up on her chest. Needless to say, Ms. Meiou was not happy about it but there wasn't anything she could realty do considering that it had been the Mau's choice to bind itself to her magic and not an accident. A few refresher courses that took a couple months and the Mau race's natural intelligence brought it up to speed to where she was able to join Ranma and herself in their regular classes.

The first thing that she noticed as her awareness of her surroundings came back to her was that she was lying down instead of sitting up like she had been when she had fallen asleep. The second thing was a warm weight on her face and something fuzzy rhythmically batting at her cheek in one second intervals. Reaching up, she grabbed the offender under her front leg joints and pulled away while opening her eyes.

Looking down at her through reproachful amber eyes and an obviously sarcastic frown was a now fully adult, female, orange tiger-striped Mau with a golden symbol for the sun on its forehead. "And I was just starting to get comfortable" she said in a now mature female voice while cracking the fake frown with a grin, "So, how'd it go? Ranma won't tell me anything."

There was a shout of "Hey!" from the direction of the kitchen and Ranma stuck her head around the door, "That's because you won't let me. Always interrupting me whenever I try!" She retracted her head while grumbling and returning to whatever she was doing in the kitchen.

The Mau shot a dirty look towards the kitchen door and opened its mouth to retort but Nabiki cut her off, "Now Amaterasu, its hardly fair to Ranma if you blame her for not answering questions if you don't give her the chance." The impish grin on her face blunted the words. Nabiki knew perfectly well that those two had a love hate relationship similar to those of siblings. They would argue constantly, but it almost seemed like a contest to see who could argue for the sake of arguing better than the other at times. She rarely took sides in these spats but this time there was something she wanted to know, "How long have I been out?"

Ranma walked back into the living room while holding a pot of coffee, "Only a couple hours..." She handed Nabiki a cup and set the pot on the table after pouring herself some of the dark liquid. Ranma was typing something on her data pad before Nabiki heard a ping come from hers "I did find a few things while you were snoozing but not much..."

Picking up her data pad after pouring herself a mug and taking a long drag at the black gold in a cup before refilling it to the top, Nabiki opened the file that Ranma had highlighted for her. "Hmmm... Serial numbers for their equipment and marching orders..." She scanned over these for a few minutes before sighing, "They're more organized than I thought they would be... Weapons paid for in cash and delivered by unmarked armored trucks to a neutral location on Terra. No mention of who their leaders are or whoever is backing them. Everything we had on them before this said that until a few months ago they were mostly harmless and now we can't find anything on their leadership except that the old leading body was replaced and the new one hidden before anyone could find anything on them a couple weeks before they got their backing... The Lunar Brotherhood... so that's what they're calling themselves now..." She set down the data pad and started rubbing her eyes while Amaterasu jumped on her shoulders and draped herself around her neck like a furry scarf. "I'll forward what we have to my network later."

"Whoever is behind all of this knows what they're doing... I wouldn't put it past them to have had all of this planned out mostly in advance before they involved these 'brotherhood' people, maybe even years in advance... The organization itself is obviously just a patsy as they were too ignorant and disorganized before our unknown third party stepped in, but it does make an effective cover..." Amaterasu was looking at Nabiki's data pad from her spot on the brown haired girl's shoulder. Her brows were furrowed and she had a thoughtful look on her face.

Ranma put down her own data pad with a stretch and a yawn, "I don't know about any of that, but I'll agree that this whole thing is fishy." The Mau's ears twitched at hearing "fish" but otherwise made no response to the barb while Ranma continued after taking a sip of her coffee, "I doubt that this is over though. They may not have been before, but they're too organized now to not have a backup plan in case this one failed... give it a few weeks for the heat to blow over but they'll be back."

Nabiki nodded in agreement and Amaterasu hung her head in thought when a tone sounded from the data pads. Recognizing it as an incoming transmission from Setsuna they ran the decryption sequences and opened a secure connection. The face of a somewhat ruffled Setsuna appeared on the screens.

"Do you two know how much trouble you've caused?" her voice was strained and she had wisps of hair going off at odd angles. They rarely got to see their boss like this, but when they did they were usually in trouble.

"Ahaha... Slightly less than that time they found our safe-house in Athena?" Nabiki knew that her strained smile was far from convincing and she could see Ranma wincing from the faux-pas to never speak about that incident again out of the corner of her eye, but an angry Setsuna was not something either of them made a point of dealing with often and she needed an out.

The green haired Senshi frowned and sighed, "Ok, so this op wasn't nearly as bad as when that one went all FUBAR but what happened to not being caught in your ZERO Armour on the five-o'clock SMNN broadcast? Now everyone and they're uncle has seen you and the Media Department is spinning it like we're the bad guys!" She was yelling now and even the Mau draped over Nabiki's shoulder was wincing even though she wasn't the target of the Time Senshi's ire...

"The only reason the Queen isn't commanding me to find out where you two came from is because you two used your cloaking magic so now she knows that you're planetary mages, but she doesn't know where you came from or which planets are your anchors." The green haired woman was starting to deflate now, but she wasn't done yet, "I'm just lucky I still have standing orders to 'search for outside threats' so internal matters like this don't have me running to Luna as fast as I can to report... I'll more thoroughly chew you out later though. For now I have missions for the both of you now that you've got this proverbial shit storm blowing and bumped us ahead of schedule seven months..." Setsuna was rubbing her eyes on the other end of the connection and Ranma and Nabiki perked up a little at the mention of a reprieve, if only temporary. Even Amaterasu slid off of Nabiki's shoulders to land in her lap where the brunette subconsciously began scratching the Mau behind her ears.

"I'm splitting you two up for this one. Don't look so disappointed Ranma. You'll more than likely get to see some action on this one. I'm having you look into Princess Hotaru of Saturn. Full details will be in your briefing but the gist of things is our information says that she has a sympathetic nature for the common folk. She also shows aptitude for Saturn's magic in stronger levels than her older sisters making her the most likely to inherit the mantle of Sailor Saturn from her mother in seven months when her grandmother steps down from the throne." Setsuna had folded her hands in front of her face and was talking in a lecturing tone they all knew well from their years under her tutelage. "These combined with some other factors have made her a target. There have been several attempts on her life already, all failing, but no one has been able to track them back to where they're coming from despite the fact that they all seem to be organized with each other... Unless things get worse I doubt that she's in any real danger but I want you to look into where they're coming from and evaluate where exactly she stands... Maybe we can have another Senshi with us when we move on to stage three if she checks out. If you don't think that her guards can handle things on their own then you can step in and lend a hand but otherwise stay out of the way and out of sight."

Ranma nodded, "Alright, but I want to make a detour to Eris before I head out to Saturn. I've been going over some of my old notes from Magical Theory and I think I figured out how to make a talisman... I... want to see if I can make one for myself, seeing as the old one was destroyed in the fall..." Her voice fell off slightly at the last part, but the determined look on her face was proof of her resolve. Nabiki just stared at her friend who had just said that she had possibly reinvented something that was supposed to have been lost to the annals of time with little more than the guesswork Ms. Meiou had given them years ago when they had been studying artifacts of power and how they were made. Talismans especially weren't anything like a staff or other mundane magical focus which merely drew on the wielders innate magic and allowed them to use more than they normally could. A talisman was supposed to be bound directly to the planet of its focus _and_ the Senshi who used it making them all the more powerful. Both were things that only the first Serenity had known how to do and the secrets had supposedly died with her...

Likewise, Setsuna's surprise at the redhead's words was on display over the connection but she recovered quickly, "Alright, but I'm only giving you a week. After that you have to head to Saturn, talisman or no talisman..." Ranma nodded her acceptance of these terms. Setsuna cleared her throat to get everyone's full attention again, snapping Nabiki and Amaterasu out of their surprise, "As for you two..." she said, addressing Nabiki and the orange Mau sitting in her lap, "You will be going to earth. Have your people look into whatever you pulled off of the six you offed earlier because I'm having you take a closer look at these people. Keep an eye on Endymion also because we can't have him going to the next life. That would push things to the contingency and none of us want that..." she paused at the mention of the contingency. They all knew the plan Setsuna had laid out. It was a sound plan, but there were things beyond their control that could ruin their efforts irreparably. The contingency was the backup plan in case this happened, but none of them wanted to think of what would happen if it came to that. If things went too far out of their control or capability to compensate for, however, then it would be necessary...

"Full details will be in your briefing and your transport leaves in six hours under the reservation of 'Tendo'." the green haired woman finished in a somewhat subdued voice before letting out a sigh. "Good luck, to both of you, and try to stay out of trouble, OK? Setsuna out." The smile on her face and the playful humor in her voice were quite obvious before she cut the connection and the occupants of the safe-house began preparing for their next missions...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Back on Pluto Setsuna let out a long, draw out, sigh before smiling to herself. Those three could be a handful at times, even though they were no longer children. But no matter how many times they did things that got on her nerves, she couldn't stay mad at them for very long.

Looking back over the years, she marveled at how the way she viewed them had changed over time. In the beginning she had tried to distance herself from them emotionally. They were her wards, but they were also keystones in helping her bring justice back to the system. Over time, however, she had found it harder and harder to maintain the emotional detachment necessary for her self imposed role as their commander. She would catch herself wondering if they were safe whenever they went out into Hades to shop or attend events or worrying over the bruises that Ranma got whenever she played Rocket-Ball. She sighed as these memories came up and leaned back in her chair a bit more. Back then she had needed to remind herself quite often that they might look like children, but their time living on the streets had made them far older than individuals of their age should need to be... and that she wasn't their mother and they knew how to take care of themselves.

Ranma had been the one to realty make her realize that how she saw them was changing. The girl's blunt openness about her opinions could be disarming at times, once making her drop some paperwork she had been carrying when the girl had called a noble that had just left a meeting with the Time Senshi a "stupid ass". Setsuna happened to agree, but she thanked her lucky stars that the girl seemed to have the sense to not say that to the man's face. She couldn't lie to save her life either when she had first come to Charon Castle but put her up to conning the cooks out of extra food and she could tell you that up is down or black is hot pink and you would need to double check just to make sure that they weren't. She had found the antics annoying at first, but over time they became amusing, and then endearing...

Nabiki had been a harder read, and having just this side of five thousand years experience of dealing with people, that was saying something. In that first meeting, Setsuna had pinned her as a smart one, but the extent was astounding. Ranma was quite intelligent in her own right, being able to turn purely theoretical exercises into something useable, and now even going as far as to take half remembered guesswork from the conversations Setsuna had had with the first Queen Serenity about how she had made the talismans and possibly reinventing the process. Nabiki was a genius though. The girl couldn't do theory work very well, but give her a puzzle that had a logical system behind it and she would have it solved faster than anyone Setsuna had ever met in the past. Her cold logic could be frightening at times, but what had really thrown off the Time Senshi was the callous attitude she had taken towards everything as she got older. It had taken Setsuna five years before she realized that the girl was emulating how she saw the Time Senshi, even going as far as to make it her business to know about everything going on within her sphere of influence. She was impressed at the girl's ability to organize a detailed information network that reported to her within Charon Castle and extending over a good portion of Hades City by the time she was twelve and later when they turned eighteen was able to expand it to encompass the entire solar system when they began their missions, but it was still a bit disquieting that people seemed to view herself in this way...

She smiled as she remembered the first time she had ever caught the brown haired girl off guard. It was a few days after she realized that the girl was emulating herself and she had been feeling a bit depressed that people saw her as an all knowing ice queen until Ranma had walked right into her office after realizing why she was so depressed and quite blatantly claimed a place in her lap. The thirteen year old had then explained that she had never seen her like that, how she had seen through her guardian's cold mask from the very beginning and then briefly hugged her around the waist before suggesting that they pull a practical joke on Nabiki with a somewhat malicious grin. The look on Nabiki's face the next morning when she walked in to wake them up, while singing an old folk tune about the sun and the birds and the bees with a huge smile on her face had been priceless. Come to think of it, that was probably the first time that she had truly realized how much they both meant to her, and after that they had become more like a family, though she knew that she could never truly replace their parents...

She smiled to herself again at that. After that incident Nabiki had mellowed somewhat, but she still held onto her poker face when it wasn't just the three of them, and later adding Amaterasu into the group of people who got to know the real her. She frowned again as the mau came to mind. The orange trouble maker had been an unexpected addition to their little pseudo-family, but she had to admit that the neo-cat's presence had been a balancing factor for Nabiki's personality. Where Nabiki was quiet and reserved, hiding her true feelings from the public behind a cold and mysterious front, Amaterasu was loud and obnoxious making her opinions and feelings known almost as obtusely as Ranma did, but possessing little of the tact that Ranma showed occasionally. On top of that, she appeared to possess the same level of intelligence as both girls, solving logical problems with an uncanny agility, but in such creative ways that it seemed like she was reinventing and redefining what was and wasn't possible at times. Not entirely unexpected from a Mau, but even by their standards the sun-cat was a bit of a prodigy. Despite the differences in personality however the Mau seemed to share the same brain as Nabiki at times, taking the same information and coming to almost identical conclusions at the same time.

Things changed again when they started going off on missions though. They were necessary and they all knew why they were doing what they did, but Setsuna still felt a bit guilty about everything. She had educated them so that they would be ruthlessly efficient at what they did, but in that time she had gotten to know them much better as people than she had originally planned on. She had found herself going that extra mile to make sure that they would come back with as little incident as possible, or biting her nails whenever she couldn't, but the truth was that they _were_ good at what they did, going above and beyond what she had ever dared to hope for in their mission performance. Things still went wrong from time to time, but it was rarely ever their fault.

She frowned again as this thought struck her. This last mission had been one of those screw-ups. Somehow, someway, that sixth assassin had gotten past their best efforts. They had only had a couple of weeks to plan but Nabiki had been out for blood at the first slip with the group that succeeded in assassinating the old king. The girl had squeezed everything she could out of her resources to find where they came from and what they planned, but still they had gotten something by her. The girl had never asked her to use the Time Gates to take a look at them, but it wouldn't have mattered. For some reason the gates were blind where these people were concerned and it unsettled the Time Senshi.

She was dealing with the fallout of all of this now, and would still be for weeks, maybe even months to come. Letting out a large sigh, she sat back up and turned to her console and began looking over her never ending, ever growing, pile of work...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- End Chapter I -

-o-o-o-o-o-

End Notes and Comments: So... rewrites aside, the main story line is still picking up fourteen years after the end of the Prologue... I've added some flashbacks into the intervening years and some thoughts about that time as well... Expect more of these little looks into the past as the story progresses, but after about chapter four or five they should end entirely unless something that I feel needs a little more explaining comes up...

Side note; Like the prologue, I have slightly revised this chapter's spelling, grammar and some of the dialogue and word flow… Nothing major like the rewrite, but I thought you'd like to know…

As I said in my notes at the end of the Prologue, I am experimenting with tearing away who the Ranma ½ characters are on the outside, and rebuilding them from what I see as their core personalities with the different childhoods and experiences. Ranma and Nabiki grew up on the streets for around five years and then were taken in by Setsuna for the next fourteen, which is now the present in the story, so their childhoods and experiences have been a lot different from what they are in the Ranma ½ Manga/Anime. Nabiki is going to be a lot harder but not any less calculating, and Ranma is going to be more balanced but still with a greater focus and talent for more physical pursuits due to the absence of a stable home in Nabiki's case and the absence of Genma in general in Ranma's. I'm pretty much going to do the same personality break down to the Sailor Moon characters if this story ever goes into detail about them, which is looking like a safe bet for some of them at least...

Please leave a review! I welcome constructive criticism and genuine advice (As long as that's all it is...). It helps me improve my writing in general. Pointing out where I make spelling and grammar mistakes is a plus too and I prefer if you actually point out where the trouble spots are, seeing as I can go back and fix them more easily that way.


	3. Chapter 2: Setting Things in Motion

Legal Stuff

1) The Characters and Stories of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ are Copyright © Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi respectively, and are used here without permission or license.

2) No claims to the above copyrights are made by the author of this work.

3) This is a work written for non-commercial use ONLY, and is not to be reproduced.

4) This work is the expression of the author, and the depictions of the characters of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ herein are in no way represented to be a part of _Ranma ½ _or _Sailor Moon_ as depicted by the original authors and copyright holders.

Beginning Notes: Wow... Long time no see? As the announcement "chapter" said, I'm still working on these, and here is the continuation of Shadow of the Sun: Dark Side of the Moon.

Ok, so there's been a little rearranging of the chapter formats here and because I had nothing better to do I've also gone over and rewritten some small parts of the previous chapters. Nothing major, like the overhaul I did on (the now) chapter 1, but I did update some of the dialogue and rough areas to help fix spelling and some inconsistencies I found and to just clean them up a little in general... It shouldn't affect the overall story, so it's still going the same place as it was before.

Thanks go out to Wyrd42, Torgamous and CaedesPlerique for their input and advice on the storyline and plot in general. I still don't have a pre-reader for this story but all the help they have given me (and being patient whenever I went on a tangent about one thing or another) has helped the direction of where I want this series to go in the long run along greatly from where I started at.

(V. 2.15)

**The Dark Side of the Moon**

By: Almech Alfarion (Child of Fire)

Chapter II: Setting Things in Motion

-o-o-o-o-o-

A woman sat silently behind her desk as she observed the four figures arrayed around the arcing table in front of her. From what could be seen by the only lighting in the room, provided by a softly glowing crescent moon insignia inscribed on the floor in the intervening space, there was clearly enough room for several more occupants further around the table. As it stood, the lighting only provided enough illumination to reveal that the figures arrayed before her were all female. Finally the woman behind the desk broke the silence.

"Report."

A bright shaft light flashed into existence around the figure to the far right revealing a severe looking woman with piercing blue eyes that looked to be in her mid thirties. She was dressed conservatively in a blue suit with her almost neon-blue hair done up into a tight bun. The only jewelry on her person was a lapel pin shaped as the crest of Mercury, "Initial readings from before the unknown mages from the incident were able to mask their output coincide with reports from that fiasco at Neptune's Naval Yards a year ago and the raid on a suspected dissenter safe-house in Athena five months later. Also, our preliminary investigations into the know assassination attempt on King Endymion XXIV have been all but stonewalled by Terra's government citing clauses from our neutrality treaty. The only leads we have are from the bodies recovered from the nearest bathroom to the ballroom discovered by patrols when looking for the interlopers. Initial reports of said bodies say they bore matching identifiers to the captured assassin and initial screens indicate some sort of toxin designed to force massive internal hemorrhaging, beginning with the digestive track to cause the victim to mimic symptoms of severe indigestion. It could have been anyone in the ballroom and people as apparently skilled and well equipped as these would no doubt have… neglected… to sign the 'guestbook'. However, such drugs are rare and highly controlled for obvious reason. We're working on tracking down where they may have gotten their hands on them." She intoned in a cold, controlled voice.

The light shut off abruptly and another beam sprang around the next occupant down revealing a seemingly young lady of refined stature wearing a daring orange patterned dress with a gold chain pendant around her neck and the symbol for Venus situated comfortably between her generous assets while silver pins held back her long mane of gold hair. Her own pair of dark blue eyes held a sparkle of amusement as she spoke, "The Media Department is taking the story we gave them in stride and I'm told that popular acceptance shouldn't be an issue. The interlopers appeared unannounced, and clearly armed, to a gathering meant to celebrate 'peace'… It won't take much for the populace to ostracize them and whatever 'cause' they may represent." Her voice had its own slight, amused, ring to it as it reverberated off the walls.

Again the light moved to the next occupant. Her face was hard with dark, almost black, violet eyes and close cropped black hair. The refined features of her figure couldn't hide that she was in extremely good shape despite being hidden by a grey dress uniform with several pins attached to her left breast, above which sat a stitched patch in the shape of Mars' crest. "Armed forces are on standby system-wide. Port-authorities are on high alert for suspicious personnel and patrols have been doubled and informed to look for ships in places there shouldn't be any… though, to be honest, as Mrs. Kreia said, they are well trained and appear to have substantial financial backing, so it wouldn't be without reason that, in the likelihood that they should be in possession of a ship, that it have at the least some stealth capabilities…" came the crisp report.

The next woman to be revealed by the light was clearly the eldest of the gathered individuals and held herself with an air of aged refinement with her long brown hair held up in a ponytail. Her conservative dark green dress almost perfectly matched her board eyes. A pair of dangling earrings wrought in the shape of Jupiter's emblem was her only embellishment. "I must disagree with Lady Venus on the point of total public acceptance… In the last few hours my departments have reported a scattering of unsettling rumors pertaining to the incident and arrests are on the rise. As previously stated, the interlopers appear to be both well trained and equipped, suggesting a need for large amounts of capital. Our investigations are covering all of the usual areas, however we are giving special focus on attempting to track down their finances, as tracking any potential training facilities would be more than futile considering that we hadn't found them before this incident... We're increasing our observer drone patrols to try and find something on that band as well. What worries me is that we hadn't found this operation before, considering the financial, material and human resources required to design armor such as they had, as well as the necessary time to train the two mages to the level of their displayed skill…" With the end of her report the light cut off a final time and silence filled the room for a few moments to once more be broken by the woman behind the desk.

"What of their magical signatures themselves, Mrs. Kreia? Do we know which planetary line, or lines, they are from?"

The light shone once more, "No, your highness…" the blue haired woman spoke as she shuffled through some papers in front of her, "The readings from the signals themselves indicate signs of a planetary bonding equivalent to a C-ranked mage in power, but spiked to high B-rank when their cloak activated before disappearing completely. In the brief period when they activated their cloaking magic we were also able to gather strong readings for a Light-Natured attunement from the white armored one, but the over-all signature was unique enough to rule out all of the known planetary bindings and the readings from the one in black armor have defied all of our efforts to categorize so far, though it has been theorized by some of the less conventional members of my department that her magic is somehow Shadow-Natured because of the visible effect of when her cloak was activated, despite there being no planetary bonds capable of producing such an attunement. The only information we were able to find in the archives is from an attached file to a standing search-and-destroy order passed two hundred forty eight years ago detailing somewhat matching signature readings, but no planets were named in the file and no other details were given other than that anyone found to have them were to be approached with extreme caution and to be reported to The Crown immediately upon which the Sailor Scouts would be dispatched to initiate… peacekeeping duties... These orders have been acted upon several times since issued, though the number of recorded incidents has steadily dropped over time with the last being just short of nineteen years ago." when the light shut off again several forms were heard shifting in their seats…

"Very well." Spoke the Queen after a moment's pause, "Mrs. Thalia, keep pressure on the media. Unless they move again soon, I want this incident to be forgotten quickly but we should use it to our advantage while it's still fresh in the populace's minds to solidify our power in their eyes. Should they move again before the populace has time to cool down I want the people to reject them and everything they may or may not stand for. We can't afford an uprising ourselves while Terra's government is still sorting itself out in the wake of the late king's assassination. Mrs. Soren, Inform the Sailor Scouts that I want them to go on a tour of the system. Ostensibly, it will be a good-will gesture to show the populace that they are being protected from these enemies and to introduce Ami Kreia to the masses as the newest Sailor Mercury. Mrs. Maddock, you will reorganize some of your black-bag teams into hunter-cells to assist the Inner Guardians in their real task of hunting these rouge mages down as the scouts travel from planet to planet. The interlopers are to be treated as enemies of the state with a capture or kill on sight standing."

"Understood." The gathered individuals intoned as the room went completely dark…

-o-o-o-o-o-

Setsuna Meiou turned away from The Gates of Time at the completion of the meeting. It wasn't a foolproof method of gaining information on the movements of The Crown, but the situations that had been popping up from nowhere recently had turned it into a necessity. The fact that something seemed to be actively blocking her from looking into most of said situations more thoroughly with the gates was even more worrisome to the green haired woman. In the end, she needed to get as much information as she could about the various factions in any way she could so she would at least have some idea of the next move she and the girls needed to make.

Thankfully, the wards that screened the 'Royal' meeting chamber were calibrated to the frequencies the gates had used nearly a millennia and a half ago. It still didn't mean that they wouldn't have caught on if the five women had been paying more attention to their _other_ senses...

'_Pride and arrogance go before the fall...'_ Setsuna thought darkly...

It was a risk... A _big_ risk... But a risk that had much faster results than her or Nabiki's usual methods, and that was what made it necessary. Where it would normally have been close to a week for Nabiki and Setsuna's combined information resources to report about this "Good Will Tour" of the Inner Scouts, she now had the information before any major arrangements could be made on The Crown's side, and she could plan accordingly.

Bringing herself mentally back to the task at hand the Senshi of Time turned back to the gates and called up the image of the woman who had contributed the most to make Setsuna who she was today. The person to give her a direction... a purpose... other than just living out her immortality until the end of time or some idiot managing to get her killed.

Before her was a still image of a woman in moment frozen in time from nearly three thousand years in the past. She had long silver hair arranged in an elegant ponytail that almost reached her ankles. But instead of the white formal gown this woman was most well known for, she was wearing a rather plain pair of pants and a turtleneck sweater under a knee length lab coat. She was looking over the readings from some experiment or another on a transparent data-panel with the most intense expression Setsuna had ever seen on her best-friend's face. Despite the youthful appearance the woman portrayed however, you could see the beginnings of crows-feet forming around her eyes...

"What would you do if you were in my position Senny?" Setsuna asked into the quiet. "They remember you, but as some stoic figure who forged an 'Empire'..." The Time Senshi snorted in dark amusement when she said this, shaking her head slightly as a single tear rolled down the side of her face, "Your dream has been lost to the same greed you fought against when you built your kingdom..."

The Senshi of Time stood there for a while longer as she contemplated her next move before she 'stepped' through time, into her office in Charon Castle.

She had work to do...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ranma stretched after running through her ship's power down sequence. It had been a long flight to Eris from Pluto after she teleported from the safe-house in Ares. It annoyed her that her own world was the only planet in the entire system that she couldn't teleport to, regardless of distance. But no matter how much she complained about it, the risk of spontaneous decomposition of her component matter, due to the planet's chaotically attuned magic, was all too real and far too high for her to consider it...

There were, strange as it may seem, limits to how much she could bend the law of infinite improbability after all...

Stretching again and stifling a yawn she looked out the view window to look at the darkened landscape of her world. The scenery had changed dramatically since she had been here last...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Ten Years Ago -

Thunder rumbled across the high altitude overcast that shadowed Eris in perpetual darkness as great arcs of green lightning flashed from cloud to cloud in a type of chaotic dance. Though the illumination cast from these great bolts could be seen from the surface they failed to cast any light on the broken and shattered landscape of what was once the Tenth Solar Kingdom. Barely visible through the unnatural darkness that permeated the planet's skies were stones, both great and small, that floated through eddies of chaotic mana that twisted their way through the atmosphere. Occasionally a particularly bright flash of lightning would illuminate these floating monoliths slightly and reveal shapes reminiscent of architectural structures. A pillar here, an archway there, occasionally even what seemed to be an entire building, somehow still mostly intact from whatever tragedy struck the dead world.

The surface itself was scared and ruined, as though some god had taken a great blade to the landscape. Fissures crossed the surface at all angles. Some were short and shallow, while others stretched on for miles into the distance and were too deep to see the bottom if someone were to be standing on the edge, should they have a proper light source strong enough to pierce the unnatural darkness. In contrast, great slabs of what was once bedrock jutted up from the surface, their broken and jagged forms reaching towards the heavens at unnatural angles as though in hope of salvation from this all but dead planet. Warp-stone deposits, once buried in the surface were now exposed to the air on the walls of the fissures and broken cliff faces, casting an eerie green glow over what area they could like the lightning above before the darkness swallowed the unnatural light despite still being visible from the air.

From the bottom of the cloud cover, a ship descended, frost trailing from its black, teardrop shaped hull. Forward sweeping wings, reminiscent of a crescent, intersected with the main body at the halfway point and gave the vessel stability in the turbulent atmosphere as it first wove its way around the lightning, and then descending lower, through the floating stones.

Inside the cockpit, one Setsuna Meiou was not having a good time. Everything was going fine until about halfway through her descent through the cloud cover before every single one of her instruments and scanners started going haywire from the interference being given off by all the chaotically attuned mana floating around in the atmosphere. It was all she could do to avoid the lightning.

Now that the ship was under the cloud cover and low enough where the lightning wouldn't bother them, she had the floating stones to avoid while she looked for a safe place to land. A task made even harder by the fact that, as low as she was flying, there wasn't nearly enough illumination provided by the plasma storm above to see by and even though she had the flood lights on full blast she could at most see a few yards in front of her, forcing her to slow the ship down to a crawl. Compounding the difficulty was the fact that, from what little she could see, the area where she had descended from the clouds apparently had been a sea or ocean before the planet had undergone the massive orbital bombardment of the Queen's Navy, both cratering the surface heavily and causing an over abundance of fissures as a side effect of the massive thermal shock the crust had undergone when the oceans evaporated under the magi-technological onslaught.

She had to once more remind herself of why she was here. It had been roughly half a year since Nabiki had managed to achieve a full transition into her Senshi Armour, but every time Ranma had attempted to do the same something had happened to prevent it from working. It was all very frustrating to tell the truth. And that's when the idea to come here came to the Time Senshi. An idea she was hoping she wouldn't come to regret.

She was so busy concentrating on not being smashed to pieces by the floating debris that she almost missed the quiet shuffling sound behind her. She wasn't worried about who it might be considering the only other people on the ship were Ranma and Nabiki, who were supposed to be sleeping further back in their quarters, but she was slightly concerned that one of them was awake considering that they were still exhausted from the mock scenario training they'd gone through shortly before the trip. It didn't take long for an extremely tired looking red haired girl, who had wrapped herself in a blanket, to come into Setsuna's peripheral vision as she sat herself down in the co-pilot's seat.

"So..." Setsuna prompted gently in a quiet tone after a minute of silence between the two as she decided that she could spare the attention to at least find out what seemed to be bothering the twelve year old, "What's wrong?"

Ranma seemed startled slightly by the sudden noise before she sheepishly shook her head in embarrassment. "Nothing much... Just can't sleep"

The older woman simply raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh Ranma... You know you can't lie to me... Is it really that bad?" she said in chiding tones, but not unkindly.

The small redhead at least had the good grace to look embarrassed as she was called out before her thoughts turned inwards for a few quiet moments. "Do... Do you ever hear... voices? When you're on Pluto I mean?"

"No, I don't." was the Plutonian Senshi's reply with more than a little worry barely hidden beneath the surface. In the over five thousand years she had been alive, hearing voices when no one else could was almost always a bad thing, "What are they saying?"

"I don't..." the tired girl began, pausing to gather her thoughts through the haze of sleepless fatigue, "It's like... Eris is trying to talk to me... only... only I can't hear what it's trying to say. Like listening to someone trying to talk to you through an aquarium..."

Setsuna let out a mental sigh of relief that her charge wasn't going insane, but at the same time she was a little confused. "I think I know what's happening..." she began carefully, "In the past, it hasn't been unheard of, where a Senshi has a stronger connection to their planet than is considered normal... It's supposedly has nothing to do with how powerful you are... but it does mean that if this is the reason why you think you can hear Eris, when you do come into your full Senshi Powers, you may be able to make your magic do things that it otherwise shouldn't be able to..."

That was the short version of it of course, and Setsuna was fairly certain that she was right so she wasn't concerned. Though what did concern the greenette a little was that if she was right then Ranma should have by all means achieved a full Senshi Armour transformation months before Nabiki. Had the bindings somehow been damaged when the Queen's Navy glassed the surface?

Silence reined in the cockpit for a few minutes as Setsuna mulled over the possibilities while weaving the ship through the flying stones and Ranma gazed out the domed window in front of them with dull eyes as she tried to fall asleep in the copilot's seat.

"We're over a city..." the redhead mumbled sometime later as her eyes focused on the lower half of the window.

"Oh?" the Time Senshi began, not doubting the girl for a second due to her dark-vision ability, "Can you see a safe place to land?"

Ranma nodded and pointed out the viewing window to the left even as she yawned, "There's a stadium over there that's missing one side, but it collapsed outward and I can't see anything inside."

Setsuna simply nodded and once more marveled at the girl's ability to see through blackout conditions without help while bringing the ship even lower and slowing down even more so as not to miss her goal. It was a few more minutes with a few corrections from Ranma before she found the stadium and confirmed that what was once the playing field was indeed clear of debris and other destruction for the most part before lowering the ship's landing gear and setting down with hardly a jerk.

"It's going to be a while before Nabiki wakes up and I don't want us to get separated while we're here... Go back... Get some sleep..." Setsuna gently said as she started going through the ship's power down sequences before the still tired pre-teen nodded once and began shuffling back to her quarters, not seeing the small smile on the Time Senshi's face...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Darkness... That was all that was visible in every direction to her companions beyond the floodlights of the ship, but to her the eternal shadows of Eris were clearer than a perfect summer's day on Venus. The skeletal remains of the city's once proud towers, many of which were half as tall or less than they had been when this place had been alive, stood out in sharp relief to Ranma as she stood atop a particularly large piece of rubble just inside the visible area of their camp. Wisps of frost formed with each breath she took and the only reason she wasn't shivering in the fridge environment was thanks to her ZERO Armour.

It truly was _her world_...

It had been about an hour since she and Nabiki had woken up on the ship and they had spent that time preparing the things they might need for their inevitable foray into the dark. Ms. Meiou had ordered them to not leave the area without everyone else, but not because she was worried about wild animals. Eris had been a lifeless rock ever since the bombardment and much of the water that once made up the planet's oceans, seas, lakes and rivers was currently trapped in the stratosphere in the form of the ever present cloud cover. The reason was so they wouldn't get lost in the dark regardless of the fact that Ranma could see clearly. She didn't go any further than her silent vigil while the older woman worked on getting a locator to at least function through the chaos magic, and had succeeded a short while ago after some effort, a bit of cursing and a lot of pulled hair. But as amusing as it would have been to watch the normally aloof woman lose her nerve from the comfort of the heated interior of their ship, the sensations she was receiving from Eris held the twelve year-old's attention.

She had no doubts in her mind now that what Miss Meiou had told her about her having a strong connection to Eris was true. She could feel the dark, chaotic mana laced in the frigid breeze that blew through her hair, and the steady ebb and flow of the ley-lines running throughout the whole planet. But more importantly, she could feel its pain now that she was standing on the surface. She could feel the scars that crossed it and how something seemed to be preventing the world from healing itself...

The voice of the world was stronger too, now that she was on the surface... It was like it was trying to tell her something important, but what it was saying came out garbled and muffled. There was a distinct... pull, now that drew her attention to somewhere in the distance...

The crunch of footsteps on the frozen ground momentarily drew the redhead's attention away from the ruined horizon and she found her guardian walking up to her with a carefully neutral look on her face.

"Anything the matter?" the green haired woman asked. Ranma would have wondered how the woman could be warm, what with the revealing cut of her Scout Fuku, save for the fact that she knew it possessed a suite of environmental protection fields similar to her ZERO Armour's...

"There's something out there..." Ranma said as she turned her attention back to the darkness. The shades of grey she saw everything in whenever the level of light reached below a certain point always seemed more natural to her than whenever she saw in normal light. "It's like there's something that I need to find..."

The Time Senshi just nodded before turning to get Nabiki and a light crystal powerful enough to illuminate an area of a few meters regardless of the omnipresent darkness...

They set out shortly after that with Ranma leading the way...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Present -

Ranma stood at the bottom of her ship's boarding ramp, once again wearing her ZERO Armour to ward off the cold as snow lazily drifted to the ground. That in itself constituted the first major change on her world since ten years ago. Eris hadn't seen precipitation since the Queen's Navy bombarded the surface.

Now a mental query through her connection to the planet told her that it was snowing across the entire world, and had been for well over three Standard Terran Months. Glaciers were already beginning to form in places and the only reason that it wasn't blizzard conditions was due to the fact that there were no temperature differentials large enough to cause such an imbalance. It would take time for the environmental wards to repair themselves enough to increase the intensity of the sunlight that reached the surface. As it stood they could do little more than keep the air breathable and gravity at a comfortable level.

Looking across the ruined city from her landing site she absentmindedly noted that it looked more the frozen wasteland than it had before with the thick blanket that buried anything shorter than seven stories and she had been forced to locate a different landing site. The old stadium they had used before had been all but buried and would have been dangerous to land in with the unknown depth of soft snow filling it. The mostly intact building she had found close to the city-center worked just as well though, with the frozen winds having blown most of the snow off.

In the distance she could make out the fissures that crossed the surface. The smaller ones were already completely covered by the snowfall by now, but despite how long it had been snowing quite a few of the larger ones were still visible.

The second major change to the planet she noted was that it was dark. _Just_ dark... The omnipresent darkness that you could almost feel was all but gone and as the occasional bolt of normal lightning flashed overhead she watched as the landscape fluoresced white.

Maybe, given enough time, her world would be able to heal itself...

Shaking herself out of her hopeful musings and bringing her attention back to the task at hand Ranma turned to look in a particular direction and concentrated on her magic, tapping into her link to Eris slightly in the process. Her brow furrowed as she mentally ran through the necessary calculations for one of the most complex spells she knew. Gold tinted dark mana swirled around her for a moment before the spell matrix snapped into place.

"_Ebon Wing_." She whispered, and the surrounding shadows seemed to thicken further around her shoulder blades to form a pair of large gold flecked shadowy feathered wings. Stretching out her considerable wingspan she briefly frowned at the gold colorations before she leapt over the snow below and flew towards her destination.

"I just hope it's still there..." she whispered...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- The Past -

"Is this it Ranma?" Nabiki asked after a minute of standing in the same spot while Ranma looked in seemingly every direction. They had been climbing over, under and through the ruined city for well over an hour now and when they reached their current location the 'pull' that had been drawing her in a particular direction ever sense they landed had stopped and she was now trying to figure out what to do next. The pull may have stopped, but now that they were wherever they were there was a much more vague 'feeling' of what she needed to do to continue on, as though instead of needing to be somewhere there was something she needed to do...

They were in the middle of what must have been a park considering the openness of the entire area. The ground around them was scarred and cratered with the signs of conventional weapons and mana fire instead the debris of gigaton range warhead detonations, and the low walls that had once lined the paths were all but destroyed. This place had been a battlefield in a war fought with soldiers instead of ships. The blasted remains of a monument lay about a hundred meters to her right and the petrified remains of trees in areas not quite as heavily scarred by the battle reached their bare branches to the heavens.

Ignoring her older friend's comment for now Ranma followed the feeling she had and walked over to the monument, crouching by what was left of its base. This was where she needed to start... Closing her eyes she concentrated on the feeling as Setsuna and Nabiki watched in anticipation.

There... A shift in the black wind... A change in the pattern she felt the mana around her taking... Fundamentals of how she perceived the "voice of Eris" lost to her before now clicked into place and a few moments later she stood back up and resumed walking, still not opening her eyes as the feelings drew her onward. Minutes passed as she traced the path she perceived not through sight, but her connection to Eris, and as she moved forward its voice grew stronger... clearer... With each passing moment she received impressions of the history of this place. She didn't understand all of it, but through the garbled perceptions the planet gave her as she walked she could make out events long past that affected the whole planet. The arrival of the first settlers and the bio-domes erected by them thousands of years ago, and its eventual terraformation, first through technology to make the environment livable and later magic to make it pleasant, coming to the height of the golden age the world shared with the rest of the Moon Kingdom...

Finally she stopped again and opened her eyes. They had apparently left the park behind some time ago and were now at the front of the blasted gates in the perimeter wall of a building that appeared to have partly collapsed with a clear path of destruction leading further in. The structure diverged from the architecture of the much taller towers that made up the majority of the inner city, being made primarily of quarried stone as opposed to concrete, metal alloy and composites while the bases of five of the towers could have fit comfortably within the area it took. Sweeping arches, pillars and balconies contrasted the smooth lines of its taller brethren and the apex of a collapsed dome at the center, at least five hundred meters above, constituted the highest point.

Continuing through the gates and looking around for a moment Ranma realized that the courtyard they had just entered eerily paralleled the park they had passed through earlier. Here too there were signs of conventional weapons discharge, and what must have once been a beautiful garden now lay in runes like the rest of the world.

The voice of Eris still whispered through her being, and through what Ranma could only think of as the planet's equivalent to incoherent mutterings she could make out that this place had once been the seat of power for this world's government. _'That would make this place the palace...'_ she numbly realized as she resumed walking, with her companions following behind as she made her way through the ruins.

The content of her perceptions had changed for some reason, now that she was in this place. She looked around as she walked onward and upward through the ruined structure, and received impressions of combat...

"There was a battle here..." Ranma whispered to no one in particular as she stopped next to what was left of a staircase and placed her hand on the railing.

"Oh?" Nabiki asked, startling the redhead slightly. She has almost forgotten that they were there. "And just how do you know that, besides the obvious of course..." the brunette sarcastically said as she looked around at the wreckage in the small area that was visible under normal light.

Ranma gave her friend a flat look. "Eris told me..." she answered simply, and took silent pleasure in the incredulous look she got in return. It wasn't very often that she was able to catch the older girl off guard like this, so she had to take whatever she could get when the opportunities came along...

"Be that as it may..." Miss Meiou began, "Is there anything in particular about the battle that took place here that stands out?"

Ranma frowned when she saw the way her guardian was carrying herself. The stiff posture was all she needed to know that the green haired woman was in 'business mode'. She frowned deeper as she thought of the answer to the question.

"They wanted something..." she said as she looked back in the direction she somehow knew the park was in.

"They?" Nabiki asked, tilting her head slightly while folding her arms in front of her chest.

"The Silver Moon Militant forces that landed on Eris before the bombardment." Ranma answered distractedly. She was still getting impressions of the battle and one thing in particular was starting to stand out to her...

"First contact for both sides was made at a park we passed through earlier, and the Queen's forces drove Eris' militia and the civilian defenders that joined the battle to here..." she said as she started slowly climbing the staircase, hardly paying attention to her friend and guardian as they followed. "Eris' Senshi was in the battle too, but apparently Senshis Venus and Mars had been deployed here to collect something before the bombardment took place and they engaged each-other..."

The top of the steps opened to a partly destroyed balcony that once overlooked what must have been the antechamber under the central dome. The entire area seemed to have been blasted outward and looking over what was left of the banister Ranma could see that part of the dome above had fallen almost straight down, and was presently blocking her view of the room's heart.

"They fought _here_..." she said as she worked her way down a ramp of rubble that led to the ground floor and continued deciphering the impressions Eris was giving her as she moved around the fallen dome. The clarity of the impressions had become sharper the closer she got to this point, and she had a feeling that she was almost to where it was trying to lead her. "Eventually Senshi Eris managed to injure both of the invading Senshi enough where they were forced to retreat without whatever it was they were after, but not without amassing quite a few injuries of... her... own..."

She trailed off as she rounded the edge of the dome and stopped at what she saw. It most definitely was not like anything she had been expecting. To be perfectly honest she didn't exactly know what to expect when they'd set out earlier, but it certainly didn't include this...

Kneeling in the middle of a perfectly smooth, shallow bowl shaped depression at least ten meters in diameter was the first body she'd seen among the ruins of Eris. The rest had either been erased after over two hundred years of being exposed to the elements and wild magic of the surface or atomized when the bombs fell. This was no two hundred and fifty year old skeleton though. What instead sat in front of them, was the body of a young woman, who by all means looked like she had died only hours before, and the only sign of time having taken its due out of the cadaver was the wispy and frail quality to the unnaturally white hair on her head. What held her attention even more though was the fact that she was wearing a set of battered and bloodstained armour...

Senshi Armour to be precise...

Somehow the armour was able to defy the normal color blindness of her dark vision and she saw every detail in a clarity she had never before experienced in her life. The breastplate was more or less form fitting and made of a black substance that looked more like polished onyx than any metal, with a flexible looking dark matte grey material covering the sides and bands of metallic gold running around her waist, splitting around her navel to form an open diamond design.

Above her heart sat a golden crystal cut into an eight pointed star with the two longest arms lying along the vertical plain. Forming a sort of collar that surrounded the crystal and came to a V just above her breasts was more of the same matte grey material coming just short of her neck where the onyx like material took over once more while veins of gold etched leaf-like patterns overtop.

On her shoulders sat a pair of miss matched pauldrons. The one on her left shoulder was a simple curved design that had a second layer underneath it that covered more of her arm, while the one on her right shoulder had a beak like look to it, but with a section of the middle depressed more than the areas to either side. Strapped to her arms were a pair of gauntlets with crossing plates protecting her forearms and connecting to the plates that covered the backs of her gloved hands.

Her legs were unarmored save for a pair of plates that curved around her calves and arched into downward points while the rounded tops connected to the bottom of her breastplate. Over her otherwise bare legs was a grey coat like battle skirt with black trim that was slit in front of either leg all the way up to where it was covered by her armour. On her feet was a pair of, ornamented, armored black boots trimmed with gold that covered her shins and curved to a point just above her knees.

Protecting her head was a tiara like helmet, trimmed in gold and made of the same black material as the rest of the armour. A curved plate covered her forehead like a visor, on which was set another gold gem cut in an elongated diamond pattern. Rounded geometric plates covering her temples and ears held four black and gold feathers each and connected to the visor plate while another pair of smaller plates extended from below them to follow her jaw, stopping just short of her chin. Woven gold bands arched over her crown, coming around to meet in the back to hold the helmet in place.

Yet held in front of her chest by both hands was perhaps the plainest, yet still most interesting thing of all for those who knew what its purpose was... It was an orb about the size of a large grapefruit that looked like it was made of gold. Down the middle ran a jagged crack that nearly split the entire thing into halves.

Ranma quietly walked towards the remains of the last Senshi of Eris. She seemed to be mesmerized by it and her companions gasped as they moved close enough where their light allowed them to see it for themselves...

No one said anything as they looked at the remains of her predecessor to the mantle of Senshi of Eris, Ranma most of all as she saw the expression of concentration and pain that had graced the woman's face in her last moments.

The voice of Eris was clearer than ever now and the impressions were almost overwhelming as it tried to show her everything that this woman... her great grandmother... had ever done. Choices she had made, friends and enemies she had had, things she had learned... her actions and the soldiers she had fought with and killed during their world's last stand against a Queen who had not wanted anything more or less than complete and unquestioning obedience to her will, even if that will ran counter to those of the many... Through all of the garbled impressions Eris was giving her, one in particular began to stand out.

"Ginzuishou..." she mumbled as she focused on the voice of her world and looked around the area slowly.

"What was that Ranma?" Setsuna asked distractedly as she looked on with wide eyes at the nearly perfectly preserved body.

"She tried to fight the Ginzuishou..." the redhead said in a whisper as she walked towards the remains of her predecessor and slowly reached out her hand, stopping just short of touching the gem on her helmet. "When... The Queen tried to destroy Eris herself when Venus and Mars failed their mission... she tried to purify the planet of its chaos magic...? But she..." Ranma trailed off as she looked around her in shock as she realized something from what the planet had told her.

"She fought back..." the twelve year old said in a horrified whisper, "She channeled more of her magic than she could safely use, injured or otherwise, through her talisman... all the safeties were either turned off or destroyed in the feedback as she channeled almost the entire mana pool of the planet to fend off the effects of the Queen's spell." She paused and turned her gaze towards the floating rocks and flashes of lightning above them, shivering slightly, but not due to the cold. "She managed to succeed, but having so much power run through her system without the proper preparations killed her... This is all the backlash of having so much of the planet's mana pool expended in a single spell. It's still trying to balance itself, but it can't without a conduit to direct how..."

"That explains the lovely weather," Nabiki stated sarcastically, "but it hardly explains why she..." the teen motioned towards the kneeling armored figure, "...is still here..."

"My guess would be that having so much magic channeled through her body during her last moments somehow managed to preserved her..." their green haired guardian mused as she began to walk in a circle around the depression.

Ranma was still looking at the body with morbid curiosity. Kneeling in front of her was the last Senshi of her world, almost perfectly preserved for over two and a half centuries. Cautiously, she reached out her hand and the tips of her fingers lightly brushed the gem on her helmet...

The others didn't seem to notice, but the moment her fingertips brushed the golden crystal the entire planet seemed to shiver. The force of the vibration was so intense that Ranma had no choice but to fall to her knees and it took her a moment to realize that Eris' voice had stopped. The very air around her seemed to still, as though in anticipation, and only moments later she distinctly felt the mana around her begin to shift, and re-align.

The planet shook again, and again Nabiki and Miss Meiou didn't seem to notice it. They did, however, notice that she was now on both her hands and knees.

"Don't Touch Me!" she shouted when Nabiki made a move to help her, the slight panic in her voice more than evident. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she had a feeling that something bad would happen if they tried to help her at the moment. It wasn't just the free mana around them that was shifting now. Through her connection to Eris she could feel every single ley-line, large and small across the whole world, slowly realigning.

The actions of her world were no longer completely invisible to her companions as the eternal night that surrounded them seemed to grow darker, causing the illumination of Setsuna's crystal to shrink even further. The steady, frozen breeze that had been blowing ever since they landed picked up in intensity and grew into a full blown gale as it swirled around their position, forcing Setsuna to erect a quick _Garnet Ball_ to protect her and Nabiki from its strength. The only thing that saved Ranma from being torn to shreds in the icy gale was the protection offered by her ZERO Armour, having barely managed to summon its helmet in time to protect her head.

The exposed majority of Ranma's hair whipped around her and she could feel pieces of debris ablating off of her armour's protective fields. Larger pieces would cause her to jerk violently to one side or another as they struck her. Distracted as she was from repeated impacts Ranma almost missed that the remains of her predecessor were changing. Her body was slowly transforming into what Ranma would later only be able to describe as liquid shadows while the Senshi Armour began to take on a golden glow that quickly grew in intensity until it was nearly blinding.

The gale grew even stronger as it began to create a vortex that seemed to be drawn into the transforming form in front of her. The only thing she could hear was the pounding in her ears as adrenaline kicked in, but Ranma seemed to be rooted to the ground.

She could feel the mana swirling in front of her. It seemed as though every drop of magical energy that had been floating free across the planet was currently being drawn towards this single point. The _presence_ of the surrounding darkness that one could almost feel was leaving and the illuminated area of their light crystal grew as the dark mana that had previously saturated the atmosphere was drawn into the magical maelstrom. Chaos mana powered lightning crashed above them and the defining peals of thunder could be heard over the wind. Looking up she saw the clouds above had formed their own maelstrom and she was sitting dead center in its eye...

She felt the buildup of energy in the magical vortex reach a peak and turned her attention back to in front of her just in time to see the epicenter of it... pulse.

Hard magical energy radiated outwards from the point where the remains of her predecessor had once been and she cried out as it washed over her. Once... twice... three times she felt the mana build before it reached its critical mass and sent out the shockwaves, and each time the redhead felt the full force of the blast. It seemed to take hours for each buildup to complete and she remained anchored and immobile throughout.

As the aftershocks of the third pulse died away the transformed mass of condensed mana contracted in on itself to form a swirling, glowing gold and black ball the size of her fist that hovered half a meter above the ground. The wind had stopped dead and for a moment Ranma thought it might be over, but she was still unable to move from her crouching position when she tried. She could still feel the planetary ley-lines realigning themselves, though most seemed to have stopped. Doing some rough mental calculations she realized that they seemed to be aligning in a manner that eerily synchronized with her own magic's wave pattern.

A sense of dread slowly began to sink into the pit of her stomach as Setsuna and Nabiki watched in silence from the safety of being shifted 'slightly to the left' of normal time. Sweat began to flow down her face in rivers, invisible to her companions thanks to her helmet, as she thought about what was most likely happening to her and her world. It was a completely harebrained theoretical exorcise detailing a situation that had never, ever been seen in over three thousand years of magical research. She had worked on it just once in the first year she and Nabiki had been with Miss Meiou. The necessary calculations were so complex that she had given up before she finished it, but the one thing she remembered was that unless the alignment was exact... Well... She didn't really want to think about the alternative.

'_Please, please, PLEASE let it work... Twelve years is far too young for me to die, and no one ever deserves to die like _that_...'_

Minutes passed as she felt the few remaining ley-lines fall into place. Finally there was only one left and she swallowed _hard_ when she felt it finish aligning itself...

A moment passed where nothing happened before the softly glowing ball of mana hovering in front of her flew into her chest. Ranma's world went white and she knew pure, unfetid ecstasy as more mana than she ever believed possible blasted its way through her system as it assimilated into Eris' Mana Core. The last thing that registered to her mind through the pleasure induced haze before the intensity of the sensation drove her to unconsciousness was that she was wearing her own set of Senshi Armour in the colors and pattern of her predecessor...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Present -

Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as she looked into the ruined antechamber under the palace's central dome from the apex of the section that hadn't fallen. The winds were apparently strong enough to have removed enough snow from the area where the palace itself wasn't completely buried and the interior of the room in question was sheltered enough where only a light dusting covered most places. The pit in the center was completely filled of course. _'But beggars can't be choosers now, can they...'_

Her mental assessment of the planet when she had landed told her that the ley-lines had since realigned themselves back into their natural configuration, which would make her job a little harder, but that was a minor concern all things considered.

Unfurling her wings she leaped from her high perch and descended to alight on top of the collapsed section of the dome. Looking around from her lower vantage point as the snow continued to fall and swirl in the wind she assessed the situation and all of the work she would need to do to prepare.

Giving herself a mental nod she dispelled her wings and watched as they faded away like smoke in the wind. She concentrated on her magic again and a moment later she was surrounded by liquid shadows that somehow emitted a golden light. The moment passed and when the shadows receded they revealed her Armour to be very much changed.

Covering Ranma's torso was a cuirass of the same design as her predecessor's, with an equally similar pair of pauldrons covering her shoulders. The same similarities followed through to the gauntlets, boots, plated battle skirt and helmet she now sported as well, with the only difference being that instead of four feathers to each side of her helmet, there were five.

Jumping down to the ground below, she watched in amusement as the loose snow puffed upwards and swirled momentarily around her boots before mentally shaking herself as it settled back down.

"I've got work to do..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Nabiki was bored...

It wasn't very exciting, crouched and cloaked on the ceiling of the Terran Senate chambers. The novelty of standing upside-down in a setting with higher than zero-gravity without blood rushing to her head had worn off years ago, and this was the third full session in just as many days that she'd sat through for cripes sake. It was with good reason that she only skimmed over the reports on the minutes of these gatherings that she received, after all.

The room itself was bland enough as far as she was concerned. The egg-shaped dimensions were odd, but nothing awe inspiring despite the size of the room itself, and the floating platforms that the senators occupied, most of which were currently docked along the walls, were nothing new to the brunette.

Down below one Senator Ghram had the floor and the only reason she was even paying attention was in an effort to stay awake.

"- need to strengthen our ties with The Moon and accept their offer to bond our Royal House to Terra! The embargo on their Magi-tech has left us weakened and vulnerable!"

"Nonsense!"

'_ah...'_ the Spy thought to herself as a red haired woman interrupted Senator Ghram while maneuvering her own platform towards the center of the room,_ 'Senator Beryl, now there's someone to watch out for.'_

"We are not weaker from being denied new Magi-technologies, but stronger for it! Our own development into alternative technologies has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last twenty five years. We do not need -"

The white armoured fly on the ceiling tuned out the rest of the woman's rant for the most part, only paying enough attention to notice if she did something unusual. It was common knowledge on Terra that Senator Beryl was strongly against legislation that would move Terra to a closer relationship with the Moon, and she had a very strong following for it. The lower forms on Terra had always been fiercely independent, and they still remembered their history. As long as they were concerned, Terra was independent, is independent, and would stay independent of a government that had at one point been nothing more than a colony of theirs, despite that having been well over three and a half millennia ago.

In truth though, she wasn't here to spy on the byplay of Terra's Senate. After all, she had people to do that for her. Down below and seated on a special platform that hovered in the exact center of the room was the recently crowned King Endymion XXIV. It was currently her job to make sure that nothing happened to the young man as she personally worked over the less secure Terran data networks for clues to the assassins' whereabouts, and who might be behind them. She didn't have anything yet that she didn't already know, but she'd only been on Terra for three days and there was a _lot_ of data to work over.

In the mean time, she needed to keep an eye on him whenever the man went out into public. Normally this would be a job for both Senshi in exile, so that one could rest or do research while the other stood watch, but Ranma was assigned to a similar detail on Saturn after she got done with whatever-the-hell she was doing on Eris. Amaterasu could do some of the computer work, but the Mau's abilities were limited in that it would be a bit... odd... for most of her contacts to be talking to a 'cat'...

Especially when said 'cat' didn't know when to shut up half the time without her there to control the orange fur-ball...

This all meant that the Solar Senshi was on her own when gathering information from her human contacts and had to limit her time spent actually watching the King in person to when he was most vulnerable so she could carry out the other part of her mission.

"- security is threatened by the Moon Queen and the Sailor Scouts, who she uses as her Personal Enforcers! It's only a matter of time -"

'_Ok, that was new...'_ Beryl hadn't ever been this vocal about her opposition towards Luna before, _'I wonder what's changed...'_

"- as it may," Senator Ghram had taken up the debate again, "It does not change the fact that the Magi-tech Embargo has left our existing magi-tech systems to decay and grow out-dated. Regardless of our own advancements, if the Lunar Queen were to decide we were an inconvenience it would -"

Nabiki began to wonder if it wouldn't be more convenient to set up an away base inside the air vents with surveillance equipment to monitor the Senate chambers. That way she could kill two birds with one stone and get some of her other work done while still being on sight in case something came up... _'Yah... And maybe I could tap into their own security feeds.'_ She absently thought as the byplay below went back and forth, _'Much more of this and I'll need to see about getting _something_ to do besides just sit here...'_

The current topic of discussion was an offer made by the Queen a little over twenty five years before and was complex in its simplicity... The logic on the Lunar end was that since Terra didn't have a planetary bond to their world, they didn't have an adequate means to monitor the planet's magical resources when it came to their more advanced magi-tech, and as such they offered to bond Terra's Royal House like the Senshi were three millennia ago. Terra's response was a vehement "NO!" coming from the political block Beryl was a member of, as they claimed that the Moon was attempting to gain leverage over them. In response, the Moon had raised export taxes on all magi-tech being shipped to Terra while prohibiting trade on anything that could be considered industrial or military grade over the course of a few years. The goal was to force the Terran government to eventually cave in and accept their offer, but instead Terra just put forward funding into advancing magically inactive technologies that hadn't been regularly used since just before the Moon Kingdom's rise of all things. The results were surprising none the less in that they were already catching up to an equivalent level of their own technology to their larger neighbor, but progress had begun to slow in recent years.

The downside lobbied by the political block Senator Ghram represented was that with it now being twenty-five years since the beginning of the embargo all of the existing systems they were in possession of had been left to decay or become outdated, reducing the number of conveniences the people had enjoyed that had only been practical through the use of magic. More importantly though, was that the systems in place to detect mages and unauthorized magical devices were just as old and obsolete, more than enough time for enterprising mages and technicians to find ways to mask their presence. It made Nabiki's job both easier and harder in the long run. On the one hand it allowed her to move about freely with almost zero chance of being detected, while on the other it meant the same thing for any rouge mages who may or may not be working for or with the Lunar Brotherhood...

According her sources this issue was an almost weekly topic of discussion in the senate chambers, but it hadn't made any headway since it had first been brought up. On the plus side, if 'tradition' held then the session would be called about an hour from now due to a majority not being able to come to a consensus and it would be put off for another time. With that happy thought in mind, the Senshi of Sol settled in for what she hoped would be a short while before the King went back to the security around the palace and she could catch up on some much needed sleep...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Lightning crashed overhead while snow whirled in the black wind. Ranma stood close to the vacant center of an otherwise brightly glowing circle of interconnected runes and archaic symbols. The area, once choked with rubble, debris and snow was now all but clear of any obstruction. The raging blizzard spawned by her machinations severely limited visibility, and the redhead knew that it was like this all over the planet.

The seal, painted with painstaking precision, circled around the sides and over the edges of the place her predecessor had been when she died. Golden arcs of chaotic energy discharge danced over the area while shadows so thick they almost formed a liquid mass swirled just centimeters over the ground. Yet despite their almost tangible state they were unable to obscure the soft golden glow of the empowered runes...

The Eridian Senshi took in a deep breath and slowly let it out through pursed lips in a stream of mist. To say that she was nervous would have been an understatement of titanic proportions. Her preparations were almost complete, with only two things left to add. After that it was all up to chance...

Reaching into her subspace pocket she proceeded to remove an item of much grief for anyone to oppose her in the Rocket-Ball Pit for the last several years. Clenched in her gauntleted hand was a familiar, flexible composite shaft with a long scoop attached to one end and a mallet-head on the other. The racket she had won on her fifteenth birthday had seen its share of abuse since she received it, but it was still more than serviceable. This would be the model for the form her talisman would take...

Taking in another deep breath Ranma felt out the energies surrounding her and permeating the seal matrix. Everything seemed to be in order for the time being, but she had been double, triple and quadruple checking everything ever since she began empowering the massive array that surrounded her, and it wouldn't have been the first time that a chaotic flux began threatening the integrity of the seal...

Bringing her thoughts back to the task at hand she placed her Racket in the middle of the circle. Magic immediately latched onto the tool, lifting it up to float unassisted mere centimeters from the bottom of the bowl. The arcs of golden energy that surrounded her picked up in intensity for a moment, but a mental command brought the flux back within manageable levels.

Slowly backing away from the center of her array the Senshi of Eris began muttering the incantation that would start the process upon its completion. Eventually backing out of the bowl completely she continued on until she was outside of the area covered by the seal. She approached a hovering mass of shadows, thick enough to achieve a solid form, some distance away from the seal itself.

Reaching out her hand, palm up, until it was beneath the orb of dark energy Ranma mentally pulled at the containment spell's weave and watched it dissolve, letting an orb roughly the size of a grapefruit and seemingly made of pure gold drop into her hand. The sphere was perfectly smooth, save for a jagged crack that almost split it down the middle. The old talisman, destroyed when her world fell, was all but useless as a tool to focus magic but enough of the patterns left behind by often used spells still remained imprinted within its matrix to serve her purpose.

Walking back to the edge of the array Ranma moved around it until she came to a part of the seal that extended beyond the normal edge in a much smaller half circle. The region where the two circular areas met was crisscrossed with runes that traveled in either direction to complete both circuits and mesh them together into the single large array that it was. In the middle of the smaller circle was another void, above which she placed the damaged orb which began to hover as the racket had while she continued muttering her incantation.

'_It's time...'_ Eris' Senshi nervously thought. Moving with deliberate purpose she walked to the edge of the larger circle opposite the smaller and directly in line with both centers. Focusing her magic on the seal again, she began working at balancing its power levels more exactly even as she kneeled and placed both hands on the glowing circumference.

The last words of her incantation left Ranma's lips even as she managed to achieve the correct energy balance...

And the world around her exploded with power...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Nabiki was walking through one of the many markets of the Atlantis Arcology. She had finished setting up shop in one of the larger interchanges within the duct-work of the Senate structure not less than an hour earlier and now she was meeting with one of her Terran contacts.

'_No matter how many times I come here, this place still amazes me... Construction only began fifteen years ago and now they've almost finished the upper tiers...'_ she thought as she passed stall after stall to reach her destination. '_Its base being fifteen hundred kilometers long from end to end, two hundred kilometers wide, and checking in with a population of over seven billion people and counting makes it the single largest super-structure constructed... in the recorded history of mankind...'_ She turned to look over a display of hand forged knives that had caught her eye as she added the addendum to her inner monologue with a depressed sigh. After all, When the Solar Kingdom had been in its hay-day its structures had spanned the entire circumference of the star, but now only a handful of people even knew that it had ever existed...

'_Not to mention that Atlantis just _happens_ to be the only Arcology capable of being fully self sustaining in the system.'_ she continued, shaking off the morose thoughts while examining a blade with a distinguished pattern of wavy light and dark metals caused by how they were folded,_ 'And it isn't even complete yet. The Gas Giants simply don't have the right environment to sustain the large scale production of food necessary for their populations even with magic, not to mention that the Queen spreads her resources too thinly in her attempt at control to organize this sort of project anywhere else... Hmmm... These are nice. Truly a lost art...'_

Absently thinking that the vendor would have been arrested anywhere but Terra she turned away from the knife display and continued to wander through the multi-level market, occasionally stopping at a stall or walking into a store to look at something that caught her eye. Sometimes she would buy something, but more often than not she would simply leave empty handed.

Finally she came to the far end of the market. Behind her she could hear the din of thousands of shoppers and the cries of vendors alike, but in front of her was a sight to behold...

Nabiki was on the very edge of the superstructure that made up the Atlantis Arcology. Before her were windows over three stories tall, currently retracted to allow fresh air in thanks to the fine weather. Outside and hundreds of meters below she could see the vast expanse of ocean that Atlantis floated on and in the far distance she could just barely see the African landmass drifting by.

She waited there for several minutes as pedestrians passed before sensing a presence approaching her from behind. "Fine whether we've been having lately." said a male voice as its owner came up alongside her.

Nabiki didn't turn her head to look at him, but she could see her contact out of the corner of her eye well enough, _'Male, appearing to be in his mid twenties, clean shaven, neat brown hair and wearing casual dress with slightly tapered ears indicating Fey descent, but not enough to be obvious unless you're looking for it... Yup, this is my guy.'_

"Indeed..." the brunette began, reciting her part of the code-phrase. After all, the idea of being 'too careful' was laughable in these covert operations, "But I heard that it's supposed to storm soon..."

"Really now?" he said, feigning surprise, "Then I feel sorry for those poor sods working in maintenance."

Nabiki's eyebrow imperceptibly twitched at the jab, but otherwise she maintained her chosen persona. He had completed the code within the guidelines, but he didn't need to remind her that there was still a lot of work to be done. "So... what have you got for me?" she whispered.

"Nothing much to be perfectly honest, but hopefully it will be enough to get you and the rest of your friends pointed in the right direction. These bloody ingrates don't know how good they really have it..." the man huffed before continuing, "There's a bloke who works in industrial storage on the lower decks called 'The Dealer'. He's actually a black market middle man, and word is that he knows how to get his hands on anything using his day-job as a cover. Now, I did a little digging and found out that he handled a rather large shipment recently. That isn't all that odd to be perfectly honest, but thing is, it didn't go to any of his usual buyers. I don't know where it went, but I'm sure you can find out if you talk to the right people."

"Anything else?" Nabiki asked.

"Some..." her contact said as he checked his time-piece, "But I need to get going... The miss's wants me home in time for dinner."

She nodded in assent for him to leave, and as he turned around there was a barely perceptible pass between them. Nabiki felt as he slipped a small data crystal into her hand before walking away as though nothing happened. Nabiki stood there for a few moments longer, giving him time to disappear into the crowd before heading out herself.

'_Finally, a lead!'_

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ranma collapsed to her hands and knees in exhaustion. In front of her was a familiar, but currently steaming, circular depression as the glowing runes of the most complex sealing array she had ever constructed slowly darkened before flaking away in a nonexistent breeze. She could smell pink and hear ozone as a result of all the highly condensed chaotic mana that was still floating around as she crawled to the edge of the pit before sliding over and down the slick sides to come to a stop in the center. Turning over to lie on her back she took in the view of the sky above. Thunder rumbled in the now clear sky overhead as the last vestiges of magical discharge from her efforts bled off into nothing...

'_Son of a bitch, I'm tired... At least it stopped snowing...'_

For five days she had worked non-stop on those seals, making sure that her efforts wouldn't destabilize and quite literally explode in her face. For five nights she tweaked and fiddled with the power output for similar reasons. In the end though, it had all been up to chance. Every record she had dug up when trying to figure out how to re-make her talisman told her that the originals had been forged by Queen Serenity I with the assistance of a contingent of technicians. Magi-tech had been discovered only a hundred years beforehand but they still possessed a great enough understanding of how it all worked to have made machines to do most of the work for them.

Three thousand years later and the understanding of magic Ranma possessed far surpassed what they had had. It didn't change the simple truth that a drawn seal, no matter how powerful or advanced, had nothing on a supercomputer that could make micro-corrections to the desired matrix faster than a picosecond. That went doubly so when half of the magic being used could be equated to chaos theory distilled into energy if she felt like exaggerating a bit.

Three thousand years and Ranma had worn herself into the ground attempting a procedure that in all truth only had a little over fifty percent chance of success. But it _had_ worked, and compared to that, the fact that she was too tired to stand at the moment was a minor concern. The only reason she hadn't passed out yet was because of the extended operating time all Senshi experienced whenever they activated the full extent of their planetary bonds, but even that had its limits...

The planet wide blizzard her efforts had created had driven the last of the trapped water out of the stratosphere and now she stared tiredly into the clear, starry abyss above her. Ranma could just barely make out one star that was noticeably, if only slightly, brighter than the rest. _'I wonder how Nabiki's doing...'_ she thought as she took in the rest of the starry expanse. The view was truly amazing from where she lay. On most worlds there was too much light pollution to properly see the starry firmament. Sure there were the settlements and small mining colonies still dotting the larger asteroids scattered about the system that offered a descent view of the sky, but she had never had very many opportunities to visit them save for a few times when she and Nabiki had been on training exercises.

Now though, she looked up into the infinite expanse in front of her and could only marvel at its vastness. The bright band of stars that represented their galaxy stood out in sharp relief as she rested. She let a smile cross her face as she thought about what she had just accomplished. In five days she had done something that no-one else had been able to do ever since the early years of the Moon Kingdom...

Reaching up with tired arms, she grasped the jet black meter and a quarter long shaft of her new talisman and began pulling herself upright. At the top of the shaft was the maul, which had become larger and more ornate than before. It had taken on a gold hue and luster during its transmutation and a wicked looking spike extended from the other side. On the other end and seemingly as a piece with the shaft was the seventy five centimeter long peeler which had taken on the same golden appearance as the maul along the concave surface of the scoop while maintaining the shaft's black coloration on the outside. The end had narrowed into a point that was, with the sharpened edges, easily sharp enough to impale the stone by about half its length while keeping its slightly curved design.

Finally reaching a standing position Ranma leaned against her weapon for a moment to steady herself. Her Senshi magic was slowly refreshing her, washing away the fatigue, but if she didn't get some real rest soon her body would begin to break down. Pulling upward on the shaft she drew it out of its resting place in the stone and gave it a few experimental swings and grip reversals before her fatigue forced her to steady herself again.

'_Good... the balance is perfect.'_ She thought, smiling to herself before giving it one last swing. Having completed that task she moved onto the most important test she needed to perform.

Reaching out with her magic she let a trickle of her power integrate with the weapon in her hands and began grinning when she felt the matrices ingrained into it. Everything seemed to be in order...

Ranma drew on her power, not directly through her bond to Eris, but through the Talisman in her hands, and for the first time in her life was able to completely separate the two halves of her magic from each-other.

"_Ebon Wing_"

Shadows condensed around her back again to form the umbral wings, and Ranma smiled when she noted the complete absence of gold in their coloration. Stretching them out, she made a running start and took to the skies. What she saw from the air took her breath away...

Below her was a nearly endless expanse of pure white, only broken by the buildings tall enough to escape the depth of the snow. The barely perceptible shadows cast by them could do nothing to dull the intensity of the snow's brilliance to her dark vision and she needed to actually blink a few times in order to let her eyes adjust to the unusual spectacle. The former Eridian Palace was almost completely buried, with only the central dome she had just left being high enough to escape.

For minutes that seemed to stretch into hours she slowly wove her way through the city until she reached where her landing zone was. Circling for a moment and noting the distinct circular pattern to the drifts surrounding her ship and was glad she had left the ship's force fields active in her absence. _'Otherwise it would be my _former_ landing zone...'_

Dropping out of the sky and letting her wings fade away Ranma keyed the access-pad for the ship's boarding ramp and waited for it to lower before making her way to her quarters, making sure the ramp closed behind her.

Dismissing her Senshi Armour as she entered the room Ranma felt her previous fatigue wash over her tenfold, and she barely made it to her bed before passing out.

Her Talisman was still clutched in her hand as she fell asleep...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- End Chapter II –

-o-o-o-o-o-

End Notes:

Wow... This one's been a long time coming I guess... The only thing I can say is that I'll _try_ to not have another year long hiatus anytime soon... I won't make any promises though, seeing as Murphy seems to have taken an interest in me for the last year or so...

Ok... some things happened here, but I'm still setting things up to get everything rolling. Also revealed some more of the last 14 years history like I said I would. I'll reiterate, I'm planning on revealing more of the past fourteen years over time, but hopefully by the time I'm finished with Chapter five that will be mostly over with... Maybe before that even...

And on that note, leave a review if you feel like it. If you like it, thank you. If you don't, tell me why but please don't be an ass about it. Flames will be religiously ignored by this author, but if you have something constructive to say, I'm all ears. It helps me figure out where I'm screwing up, making it less likely I'll make the same mistakes in the future.


	4. Chapter 3: Cronus

Legal Stuff

1) The Characters and Stories of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ are Copyright © Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi respectively, and are used here without permission or license.

2) No claims to the above copyrights are made by the author of this work.

3) This is a work written for non-commercial use ONLY, and is written for the purpose of the enjoyment of fans.

4) This work is the expression of the author, and the depictions of the characters and stories of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ herein are in no way represented to be a part of _Ranma ½ _or _Sailor Moon_ as depicted by the original authors and copyright holders.

Beginning Notes: Well, here it is... Chapter three... You know, I find it somewhat interesting that the hardest part about writing these fics isn't that I only seem to be able to write descent narrative when I'm in a certain mindset, but that I'm attempting to explain technology, concepts, ideas and ideals in a manner such that the people who read it can understand the world that they're reading about without needing to have it all explained in mind numbing detail...

Maybe I'm over-thinking things...

Once again, thanks go to Wyrd42, Torgamous and CaedesPlerique for their help on plot and storyline, as well as to everyone who left a review. I enjoy reading them and the input helps keep me on track. For those who are interested, I've put up a poll asking whether I should drop writing _Dragonfly_ and start on one of the "ideas" projects laid out in my profile.

**The Dark Side of the Moon**

By: Almech Alfarion (Child of Fire)

Chapter III: Cronus

-o-o-o-o-o-

"So... that's how it is?"

"Yes."

"Do-"

"They have been informed of the situation."

"... Well... Things just got that much harder..."

"Not really... Just remember; Keep your heads down..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Cronus City loomed into view through the storm clouds of Saturn as the transport circled around, waiting for clearance to land. The run-down hull would give anyone the impression of a once prosperous floating megalopolis gone very far to seed. Lightning danced around the skeletal remains of abandoned sections, no longer protected from the planet's hostile environment by the station's wards, while the gutted husks of ships no longer fit for service found themselves attached haphazardly to the hulking superstructure, repurposed to serve its needs.

This and more Ranma observed as she looked out the window next to her seat. This was far from her first trip to Cronus, but it was her first time seeing it from this perspective. Most of her other trips had required her and Nabiki to quickly insert and extract themselves without raising any alarms. That usually either meant a H.A.L.O. drop from their ship and various... creative... means of extraction that left little time to appreciate the scenery, or teleporting in and out. None of them required her to take a public transport, sitting in seats that seemed to be designed with the discomfort of the occupant specifically in mind, all the way from Pluto.

The ship rocked slightly in the turbulence as it angled itself towards its final destination, shaking her from her thoughts. The nap she had somehow snuck in during the seven hour flight from Pluto, despite the discomfort, helped keep the edge off of the exhaustion she still felt from pushing her Senshi-magic's limits to their breaking point, and right now she needed to concentrate on getting through customs without raising any red flags. Dressed casually in a white blouse and knee-length black pleated skirt she looked like someone's personal assistant returning from off-world and wasn't going to attract very much attention. On top of that the identity Setsuna had created for her was sure to pass muster for now, but the news that inquisitors were going to be going from planet to planet for the next year worried her. The Time Senshi was good, but the fine toothed comb the Queen's agents would run through the records could cause problems.

Thankfully for Nabiki, being on Terra put her outside their reach so long as she didn't do anything foolish, but Ranma would need to watch her step while on Saturn.

The soft jerking motion of docking clamps attaching themselves to the hull prompted the other occupants of the vessel to stand and begin removing their carry-on luggage from the overhead compartments, but Ranma remained seated until she heard the telltale hiss of the airlock depressurizing before following suit.

Somehow moving with the motion of the disembarking crowd instead of being pushed along by it the redhead reached the arrivals terminal with no incident and placed her hand case on the scanner. The imposing figures of armed security teams loitering around the lobby didn't even faze the redhead as a stern, yet seemingly bored woman looked at her from behind the terminal kiosk as she fished out her passport. Everything here was a known quantity to her, and so long as she didn't make a scene Ranma knew she would be fine.

"Name...?" she was asked in a disinterested tone.

Ranma gave the woman her best smile as she handed over a dark red crystal visa-log the size of her thumb. "Ranma Saotome..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

She may have never gotten a good look at the station from the outside before earlier in the day but Ranma was already intimately familiar with the shabby appearance of the interior of Cronus station's outer wards. Smaller rusted ships and discarded bulkheads found themselves recycled into homes and business all along the once cavernous interior of the superstructure. A truly massive network of interconnected bridges and platforms wove its way between the structures that found footholds on more vertical plains while somehow managing to leave space around the tracks for the many trams that provided transportation to other sections of the station. No natural light was to be seen, and the myriad of flood lamps and holo-signs cast everything into a blend of deep shadows and colored light.

Thousands of people could be seen from the entrance of the port, going about their daily lives with the occasional guard patrol to supplement the police drones. Millions more called this dirty, stinking, rat infested slum home. That thought alone was enough to make Ranma slightly sick as she remembered what the place had apparently been like in its hay-day from her history lessons.

All in all, the sight always gave Ranma the impression of a massive, rusty hive welded and bolted together as it barely held on to what little structural integrity there was...

Shaking her thoughts away from the days when the station hadn't been a cesspit Ranma concentrated instead on the task of catching a tram to her new place of residence. This would be the first time either her or Nabiki would have a safe-house on this particular station on Saturn, and it always fell on her shoulders to break in the new ones.

Scanning a local newsfeed station with her data-pad and charging the fee to her credit-chit, she mounted the steps of the tram platform outside the port terminal and scanned over the headlines while waiting for a transport to arrive. Ranma was only slightly surprised to see that she and Nabiki were still making priority news after a week, but that was to be expected. It wasn't every day that rouge mages operated so openly and still got away with it after all.

The telltale hum of a vehicle levitating over tracks alerted her of an approaching tram and after cross-checking a schedule with the time Ranma realized that this one would be traveling to the area of the city she needed. Closing out of the news feed and slipping her data-pad back into her bag the redhead paid the boarding fee and prepared to embark.

The ride itself was more or less uneventful as Ranma waited for her stop, with the only thing of interest being that she was slowly leaving the poorer districts behind. Rusty bulkheads steadily gave way to more uniform structures. Older, yet better maintained architecture replaced the newer haphazard construction of the outer wards as the tram approached the political heart of Saturn.

Looking out the window for a moment Ranma saw brief glimpses of where she would be working for the next several months through the gaps between buildings. She didn't need a very good view to know what was there. She had already seen it on several occasions...

A soft tone alerting passengers to the tram's arrival at a station shook Ranma from her thoughts. Her stop was up. She needed to get ready...

-o-o-o-o-o-

It never ceased to amaze Setsuna that no matter how many sewers she had had the misfortune of visiting in her long years the aroma that permeated each and every one of them never varied in the slightest. Rotting waste, piles of refuse and the odors of the creatures that called them home combined together to create a particularly foul stench that made her wonder how the people she was going to meet could stand to live down here.

The service lights lining the walls provided just enough illumination to see by and the Time Senshi tried not to think about what she had seen floating in the "water" as she walked down the dank corridor. Up ahead she could see one of the lights was out and thanked the Old Gods that she had finally reached her destination. Turning off at an intersection made all but invisible by the broken fixture Setsuna sighed in relief when she stepped out of the ankle deep semi-liquid and onto the slightly elevated grating of the service corridor before approaching the doorway at its end and knocking, thanking all that was good and holy that her Sailor Fuku's fields kept her boots clean.

The scrape of a metal plate on the door sliding open was heard and Setsuna could just make out a pair of beady, slightly luminescent eyes peering at her through the darkness.

"Password?" asked a rough but high toned voice belonging to the owner of the eyes.

"Folly for many, fortune of us." was her reply. She had to shield her eyes momentarily as a light was shined at her through the opening.

"Ah, Mistress Meiou, we were not expecting you to come for several more months." Said the pair of eyes before the opening slid shut. The noise of something heavy being dragged was heard a moment later, followed by the sound of numerous bolts being dragged out of their catches before the door swung inward.

The dark room on the other side was now lit by a small lamp, its green flame casting flickering light across the walls. She could see an unusually short table shoved against the opposite wall, but otherwise the small space appeared to be empty before she entered, the door swinging shut behind her.

"Master Thravith is at the far end, discussing matters with the other Primes." said the door's guard as he relocked it before coming around from behind her. Most people would have classified him a 'monster' and run in the other direction as fast as possible, but the stooped figure, pale gray skin, long pointy ears and hooked nose of the goblin didn't faze Setsuna in the slightest. The little man-kin was barely half as tall as her but she knew from experience not to underestimate him because of that.

"Thank you, master Grinsol. May fortune favor you." The reply was a bit formal, but the occupants of this charming little hole held onto such things for their own reasons and she didn't want to be insulting.

Grinsol just nodded as he began moving the table back against the door and the Time Senshi left things at that as she entered a downward sloping passage mined out of the wall of the checkpoint. Down the rough cut passage she went for several minutes before it leveled off and opened up into a large natural cavern.

Groups of individuals, none of which stood taller than a meter at the most, went about their business or sat around fires in the cave. She saw no less than twelve rats the size of wolf hounds roasting on spits as well as the occasional giant insect or arachnid as she walked across the space. To her left she could hear the ringing of a hammer on metal. The short, yet stout, bearded man working at the anvil seemed to be mending a pot and was quite absorbed in his work. Children, both goblin and dwarven ran around playing games while being chased by their mothers and Setsuna stopped occasionally to allow right-of-way to those that crossed her path.

These were the castoffs of the over-worlds...

The advent of magic at the beginning of the Lunar Kingdom had been a wonderful thing but it wasn't without its consequences. Magic had strange effects on the human body before it adapted, and in the early days they hadn't understood what was going on. For roughly the first millennia, children of strongly magical parentage would be born with odd physical mutations on occasion and were more often than not seen as freaks by the rest of society. Those with similar features would often band together for a sense of solidarity and thus the passage of generations gave birth to various offshoots of humanity. The group of sub-races classified as 'fey' were generally more tolerated by normal human society, but those less fortunate in the realms of physical appearance were shunned and oftentimes outright feared.

It was places like this that they ended up. Dark, smelly holes in the ground where they could be forgotten...

Setsuna's absent thoughts were derailed when she heard the deep, arguing voice of the man she needed to speak to steadily growing in volume the closer she got, and not entirely due to the Doppler Effect.

"- if ye' wants to take yer clan and go out there an' get yerselves killed then I won't stop ya! But mark my words master Oglat, Stars help me children's children if I be the daft fool to support this exodus idea of yers!"

"And I'm telling you, master Thravith, that unless we find a new home soon our food stores will not be able to support our society in two years time! We will all starve and die!" spoke the high pitched, nasally voice of master Oglat.

The argument was originating from a crack in the cave wall just ahead of her. Normally a meeting of the Primes wasn't something to be disturbed, but she had earned enough respect to be considered an equal among them. It was in large part thanks to her that they had remained hidden for as long as they had after all...

Ignoring the pull-string for the announcement bell the Time Senshi simply opened the wooden-plank door in front of her. Nine heads immediately turned towards her and everyone in the room reached for weapons before realizing who she was.

"Ah, mistress Meiou. We wern't expectin' ye." said the barrel-chested dwarf sitting at the head of a long table, putting his rune-covered hammer on its surface. "What brings ye' to Darro-den this fine evenin'?" The four other dwarves in the room lowered their weapons as well and were followed a moment later by their goblin counterparts.

"Greetings and good fortune gathered primes." She replied in the proper formal manner, "I apologize for my interruption of your meeting but events above are progressing more quickly than anticipated..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ranma stretched as she sat up on the couch at her new public address, sighing in relief when a crick in her back loudly righted itself. She had returned here the previous evening after inspecting the layout and locations of the other four safe-houses she had at her disposal on Cronus, and was looking forward to a productive day. To a casual observer on the outside it would have seemed as though she had never left the one room studio apartment thanks to her untraceable ability to travel through shadows.

And there were a _lot_ of shadows to jump to on Cronus Station...

Blinking the, admittedly much needed, sleep out of her eyes she decided to take a more superficial look at her present appointments than her exhaustion addled mind of the previous day had afforded her, having only allowed her to focus on confirming the residence was secure. The beige carpet and not-quite-white walls of the upscale housing were bare of any decoration and the spartan, more or less generic, furniture was nothing noteworthy either. The couch she sat on was of the Mercurian "Futon" design and folded down in the middle to double as a bed and the only other pieces of furniture that weren't integrated into the small bathroom off to the side or the 'kitchen' were the floating crystal desk and equally floating cushion chair shoved into a corner.

The only redeeming quality to the room was the one way window that took up an entire wall and overlooked the Central Park and Cronus Tower from thirty seven levels up. The extensive park grounds surrounded the immense structure and constituted the only arboreal facility on the entire station. The ceiling several kilometers overhead was currently giving a wonderful view of the storm-clouds presently surrounding the station despite the several meters worth of insulation and reactive plating separating them from the station's interior. The tower itself was a soaring mass of crystal and alloy that extended high above the rest of the station and constituted both the political and academic center for the entire planet.

_'Typical Setsuna to pay top Luna for the view and then cheep out on the furniture...'_ Ranma thought with a wry smile as she looked over the vista below, watching for a moment as a patrol left the tower and began making rounds through the park.

Sighing at the fickleness of the Time Guardian the redhead decided that now was as good a time as any to get to work. Moving over to the desk, still wearing nothing more than the underwear she had worn the day before, the redhead picked the wafer thin frame of her data-pad and sat down heavily in the floating chair. Pausing a moment for it to readjust to the sudden change in weight she proceeded to unlock the device's first security encryption level and scan over the day's local and system wide headlines, noting the events and filtering out the propaganda with a pragmatic zeal reserved for those well acquainted with the process, before proceeding through the various higher encryption levels necessary to access her mission dossier.

She frowned in thought as she compiled a mental checklist of do's and don'ts as she scanned over the myriad of documents. The data was comprehensive; exhaustively covering everything from favorite foods to just about anyone who even looked funny at the youngest daughter of Hayate Tomoe, Princess Heir to the Cronian throne. The real question was how to get direct access to young Hotaru. Setsuna may have been good, but she was no miracle worker and between the Time Senshi's reputation in the Courts and the security that surrounded the Royal Families, infiltrating the facility through either political subterfuge or stealth, though entirely possible for a remote level of observation, was far too dangerous for the proximity necessary for her mission...

Those were only her most direct options, however. Thinking over everything she knew about her target and the environment that surrounded the youngest Cronian Princess, Ranma discarded several of the options that presented themselves before the germ of an idea began to take root. It was a long shot, but it was more likely to succeed without raising undue suspicion than anything else she could think of.

_'Better to let her find me than to risk approaching her directly'_ the redhead thought with a frown...

-o-o-o-o-o-

If there was one thing Nabiki was certain of at the moment, it was that Atlantis' Lower Industrial Quarter _stank_.

She moved as silently as a wraith, using the barest amount of mana necessary to enhance herself as she moved through the maze of damp service corridors, slightly rusty gantries and dilapidated warehouse spaces deep in the bowls of the Terran arcology. Her cloaking magic and ZERO suit hid her presence from the security cameras for the moment, but she was still taking every precaution drilled into her during training to remain as hidden as possible. For the hundredth time she cursed the fact that her Armour just _had_ to manifest itself in a bright shiny white and gold motif. Sure Ranma's wasn't much less shiny, but at least hers was mostly _Black_...

_'Ah, well...'_ she thought with a mental sigh as she ghosted past yet another guard patrol that most certainly wasn't the normal security detail for this part of the massive complex, _'I suppose it wouldn't be _appropriate_ for the primary color of the Solar Senshi's Armour to be the one normally associated with Darkness. That's Ranma's thing after all...'_ Sending a mental command to her helmet's HUD she brought up her area-map and marked the location of the patrol in red, along with their most probable routes. She would need to more thoroughly scout them out when she had the time.

It had taken some digging to find this place, but the lead her contact provided had borne fruit. Between her and Amaterasu they had been able to track down the various shipping manifests and monetary transactions beginning with the infamous "Dealer" to this place.

_'My first day in three weeks where I don't have to sit through hours of listening to Beryl's latest rant on the evils of the "Lunar Regime",'_ the brunette thought with no small amount of sarcasm, _'and I get to spend it scouting out this dump... Lucky me...'_

Nabiki mentally sighed again, turning her thoughts to the event that had instigated this unexpected time off from her mission's usual duties.

The Queen herself had arrived for a planned visit, with her usual entourage of guards and self-important nobles in tow, to pay her respects to the late King Endymion XXIII. All things considered with the tension between the two governments, security was the tightest it had ever been at Atlantis' Palace Complex and when added to the presence of the Inner Scouts and Magi-scanners carried by the Queen's Guard detail more direct involvement on the Solar Senshi's part would have been both superfluous and perilous.

That isn't to say that the King wasn't being watched. After all, Amaterasu was entirely capable of keeping her eye on the hacked camera feeds while Nabiki tracked down leads.

Another patrol of five 'non-standard' guards approaching from ahead of her position brought her back to her present task. The hall she was presently in was unusually tall for this area of the arcology, but too narrow to allow them to pass without noticing her regardless of her current invisibility, and upon a quick assessment she realized that there were no convenient alcoves or side-halls that she could duck into. That only left one direction she could go...

Silently jumping straight up the Spy expertly pivoted a full one hundred eighty degrees vertically before the momentum of her power-armor assisted leap carried her the three meters to the ceiling. Applying a thin layer of mana to the soles of her boots, the brunette mentally cursed the need to limit her magical output further as the blood started rushing to her head and her long hair fell down into the corridor. In a supreme effort to limit her profile as much as possible the last scion of the Solar Kingdom 'leaned' back as far as she could with her ankles as her pivot point so that her body was nearly flush with the ceiling. Her legs burned at the exertion, but thanks to her training she knew it would be at least several minutes before she would need to release her prone position.

Watching silently from her over-head vantage point Nabiki once again examined the equipment that these rouge elements' seemed to be using, turning her suit's scanners to just above passive and overlaying the readings on her helmet's HUD. Their body armor was outmoded Terran Military surplus, consisting of grey armor plating of varying thickness attached over layers of insulation, mesh and webbing. All of them wore helmets that curved smoothly around their entire heads, the glowing red line that provided their optics feeds and boxlike antenna positioned off the right side being the only deviations.

There weaponry was another thing altogether. Four of the five carried old-fashioned powder based assault rifles that after her recent research into Terra's underground the brunette now realized were all too common among the planet's criminal element, while the fifth, and only woman if the feminine profile of her armor were any indication, carried only a pistol sized SMG along with a large pack on her back that Nabiki was sure would deploy into a mobile turret of some kind from what her ZERO Armour's scanners were picking up.

Seeing a small light flashing in the upper corner of her HUD the Spy sent a mental command to her suit to scan and tap in to any local communications signals. Waiting a few moments for the decryption software to crack the signals she listened to the low drone of static before an oddly distorted female voice crackled over her speakers as the patrol passed directly below her.

"- don't care what you idiots think. We have our orders. Interference will not be tolerated."

"Yeah, sure," came an equally distorted male voice, "but what are the odds of one of them actually being _here_?"

"It doesn't Matter." Came the female voice again, "With the Bitch and her sycophants here we need to be extra careful that we aren't discovered. Th–k Miss– wo–..."

Mentally cursing, static once again filled Nabiki's ears before she killed the feed as the group moved further away from her. Waiting for a few moments for them to move further down the passage, the Spy released the mana holding her boots to the ceiling, expertly righting herself as she fell and landing in a silent crouch through a practiced ease despite the weight of her armour. Something about the brief conversation she overheard wasn't sitting right with her and she was preparing to follow the group to find out more when another light began flashing on her HUD in a distinctive pattern. Amaterasu was sending her the all-clear to return to base and that there was something they needed to discuss.

If she hadn't needed to maintain silence the air around her would have begun turning blue with the string of expletives that ran through her mind, looking back in the direction the patrol had gone briefly before beginning to make her way back to base while setting what little information she had gained from this trip aside for the time being.

'Whatever the fur-ball is on about had better be good.' she thought with a growl as the corridors blazed past...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ranma quickly made her way through the cramped and crowded market nearest her "public residence", picking out the best she could find of the various substandard goods and sundry that she would need while internally cringing at the way-too-high prices. Today she was dressed in a simple, but slightly worn, pale green sleeveless summer robe fashioned after the styles that were popular on Venus roughly a year before with her long hair tied up in a high ponytail. She hated wearing the long dress-like garment on general principle, but had to admit that she didn't stand out in the slightest among the of equally chromatic masses of raiment and hair color surrounding her.

In truth, this trip served three purposes. First and foremost was that even though her regular safe-houses were already stocked with the basic necessities, her cover and daily residence necessitated that she actually be seen in public once in a while. The second was related to the first in that as a "new resident" in her apartment the cupboards and stasis box were quite barren in addition to the distinct lack of toiletries.

The third was completely unrelated to her mission, in that while she could easily survive on the MREs stocked in the other safe houses, the redhead took a slightly guilty pleasure from preparing a well cooked meal for herself.

Surveying the wilted vegetables and suspect looking meats displayed among the vendors hawking their wares she couldn't help but long for her private garden back at Charon Castle. Pluto's desert climate wasn't particularly suited to raising all but the hardiest plant life, but through the use of a special greenhouse and a bit of effort she got by...

Sighing to herself once again, Ranma simply settled for picking through the available produce for something edible at the very least. _'Hmmm...'_ She thought as she spied a descent looking melon on the stand she was passing before snatching it up and paying the vendor's extortionist prices, _'I wonder if I can find the right ingredients to make that Uranian dish I read about...'_

Slowly moving with the crowd around her the redhead avoided bumping into anyone, deftly making her way through the dimly lit environment. Suddenly loud yells as well as cheers and jeers drew her attention further ahead where she saw the press of bodies become nearly impassable. Approaching partly out of annoyance for the obstruction and partly out of curiosity the redhead began to hear the telltale sounds of flesh striking against flesh.

_'Who the hell would be stupid enough to start a fight here of all places?_' she thought incredulously as she surreptitiously wove her way to the front without disturbing the other onlookers. What she saw only served to increase her sense of disbelief. In the middle of the circle of bystanders was a woman with purple hair done up in a tight bun wearing the dark-purple and black camo-pattern jacket and fatigues of the Saturn Royal Marine Corp's duty uniform, proudly displaying the bars signifying her rank of lieutenant on her shoulders. She appeared to be unhurt, though there were a few strands of hair coming loose from her bun.

The two men lying prone and unconscious to either side of her weren't so fortunate, as each displayed a magnificent black eye in addition to the slowly swelling collection of lumps on their faces while one had a split lip and the other what appeared to be a broken nose. Closer observation of both revealed that their knuckles were slightly bruised, leading Ranma to believe that they had been the ones fighting with the officer stepping in just before she reached the scene.

Suddenly a hush fell over the crowd across from the redhead's position that quickly spread through everyone before the sea of people parted and bowed to reveal six of the Cronian Royal Guardsmen dressed in their telltale black and silver armor over dark purple robes. Each man carried a polearm reminiscent of the famed Silence Glaive, but with only a single blade curving smoothly from the shaft.

Walking between them was someone that Ranma instantly recognized from her own acquiescent bow. The young woman of seventeen years was wearing a dark purple robe patterned with silver stars sweeping from her left hip up to her right shoulder and tied at the waist by a black sash. Hair, black as the void of space, hung nearly to the ground as her violet eyes scanned the scene before her, emotion barely kept in check swirling behind them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Princess Hotaru addressed the Marine Officer in a calm voice that seemed to barely hide a deep sadness to Ranma's trained ears, even as she knelt down, hands glowing white as she began healing the injuries of the men on the ground. The Lieutenant had snapped into a crisp salute as soon as she saw her liege, and the Royal Guardsmen looked distinctly uncomfortable at their charge's actions as they formed a perimeter inside the circle.

"I was walking through the market while off duty, Mam, when I heard a disturbance." The Officer said in a concise, but respectful tone. "Upon inspecting what the matter was I saw these two men fighting one-another and took actions to end the hostilities under the recent Peace-keeper Protocols." Everyone but those standing in the circle flinched at the mention of the Lunar Queens most recent edict concerning public disturbances, though the purple haired Marine did look a little embarrassed and ashamed as she continued in a slightly lower voice "I had not yet discovered the reason for their engaging in physical hostilities when Her Majesty and her escort arrived on the scene."

Ranma noted the barely visible emotions coming from the officer and decided she would inform Setsuna about possible agent recruitment within Saturn's military, noting the nametag reading "Xian-Puu" on the officer's breast. At the same time she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for being one of the reasons for the "Peace-keeper Protocols" thanks to the actions taken during the Terra/Luna Treaty Gala. Her thoughts were cut short when her target spoke again.

"That won't be necessary." the young woman said in a quiet voice as she moved from the first man to the second. The crowd let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief as she continued, "The reason will likely be little more than a misunderstanding. These are trying times for us all..." she trailed off, as though actually saying the words aloud were a painful admission and the emotion now visible in her eyes were anything if not honest. Ranma was considering this small conformation of the Princess's sympathetic nature when the girl in question finished healing the second man and stood up to address the crowd.

"You are all dismissed." She said, even as the guard detail formed ranks around her once more, "Lieutenant Xian-Puu, please make sure that these two are attended to and reach their homes safely. I shall be returning to the tower."

And with those words, the gathered crowd began to break up and resume their earlier tasks as though there had been no disturbance, save for the reverent and grateful glances sent in the Princess's direction and Lieutenant Xian-Puu moving the two unconscious men into a shop along the market corridor, presumably to find out where they lived so she could send them home...

Meanwhile, Ranma had ghosted the princess's group, visible yet unnoticed, until they stepped off the main path and onto a vehicle-pad where a transport waited to take them back to Cronus Tower. Even as she watched the sleek, silver-finned vehicle rise and smoothly move off into the twisting honeycomb of passageways that made up the station's interior she couldn't help but wonder at her unsuspecting charge...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- End Chapter III -

-o-o-o-o-o-

End Notes: Ok... Short chapter this time...

The setting of Cronus Station was one detail I had marked out even before I really got into writing this chapter. I've read way too-many fic that take place during the Silver Millennium that have the _Gas Giants_ with either a completely breathable atmosphere, a terrestrial surface, or both, and I've always found that to be a bit ridiculous... So, in my story all of the Gas Worlds will have Station-Cities, instead. Think Bespin-Cloud City from Star Wars, only completely self contained for atmosphere, for the general idea... As for the actual appearance of Cronus Station, I drew reference from Omega of _Mass Effect_ and combined it with a bit of "Drifter Colony" from _Titan A.E._ for the outer wards, while things are a little cleaner and better taken-care-of the closer you get to Cronus Tower.

It's really sad that it's been over a year again for this fic and I only have this much to show for it. As I said in my notes above, but in different context down here, "I think I'm over-thinking things". I spent I-don't-know how many hours reading and re-reading through what I'd written, and I still don't have everything I wanted to get done happening in this chapter, especially in regards to the Ranma/Hotaru Plot. There's actually three "Main Characters" for this story for those who aren't paying attention (Ranma, Nabiki and Setsuna), and giving them all enough screen-time while keeping everything in balance _and_ maintaining timeline continuity is frustrating. The former is tied directly to the latter because things can't happen before they happen, as that would get very confusing very quickly, and aside from a few things, not a lot is happening on Setsuna's end at the moment...

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a "Chapter 2" or anything. I happen to like the way this chapter came out, so I won't be rewriting this one any-time soon. It's just... a lot of work for a chapter half as long as I'm used to writing...

And on that note, I bid you adieu, and humbly implore you to leave a review. Input and opinions are always welcome so long as they aren't deliberately hurtful. For this chapter I'm especially interested in your opinions on how long the chapter is. Is it too short, or do you like the shorter chapter?


	5. Chapter 4: Shadow Games

Legal Stuff

1) The Characters and Stories of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ are Copyright © Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi respectively, and are used here without permission or license.

2) No claims to the above copyrights are made by the author of this work.

3) This is a work written for non-commercial use ONLY, and is written for the purpose of the enjoyment of fans.

4) This work is the expression of the author, and the depictions of the characters and stories of _Ranma ½ _and _Sailor Moon_ herein are in no way represented to be a part of _Ranma ½ _or _Sailor Moon_ as depicted by the original authors and copyright holders.

Beginning Notes: Wow... It's been a long time since the last update. I apologize for how long this chapter took, but Real Life and writers block have been kicking my ass.

So now, without further ado; On with the Show!

**The Dark Side of the Moon**

By: Almech Alfarion (Child of Fire)

Chapter IV: Shadow Games

-o-o-o-o-o-

Darkness beyond light whirled through Ranma's perception as she swam through the murky depths of the shadow-realm. Just as the shadows of normal-space were more natural lighting to her than beyond their embrace, the sub-realm she entered when she became one with those same shadows felt more real than the existence beyond its confines. If not for her duty and the very real dangers of staying within it for too long the Senshi of Eris firmly believed she would never leave. The perpetual midnight of Cronus Station's interior mixed with its flickering lights to provide a twisting, ever changing labyrinth of interconnected pathways that was a challenge to navigate even after having been on the station for a month now. Solid matter and the laws of physics meant little within the eternal sea of darkness and even time itself flowed at a different rate.

Passing through where bulkheads would be outside the realm and shifting her relative elevation without care, only concerned with following the safest routs to her destination. 'Up ahead and slightly to the left' she saw it through a momentary parting of tides. As though following the will of her magic's _other_ half the constantly shifting mass of crisscrossed path was unmistakable to her trained perception, and there was only one place on the station that could produce such an effect within the shadow-realm. She needed to hurry though. She could already feel the realm's piercing cold slowly beginning to seep into her. There was only a short while left before she would need to leave, but harsh experience had taught her that haste could be just as dangerous as staying too long...

Surfing a stable stream that seemed to lead straight to the outskirts of the mass was an easy enough task, but her destination lay within and the much smaller flows. Though slower and easier to navigate than the larger currents, they were more unstable as well despite the night beyond this realm adding to the darkness. Carefully picking her way through the tides of shadow Ranma found an area where the darkness was somewhat heavier than normal. By now only the fact that she was more phantom than form within this realm was keeping her from shivering uncontrollably or developing hypothermia, even as she moved to an area that was otherwise indistinguishable from the rest and _willed _herself back into the normal world.

Color and form, taste, touch, smell and sound all came rushing back to her senses and only years of practice kept her from violently shivering as the permeating sensation of cold was momentarily inverted before the searing heat bled off in an instant. As always the redhead deftly ignored the conflicting feelings of relief and regret that accompanied her reentrance into the physical realm, for that way lie madness, and instead she set about examining the clearing deep within Cronus Station's Central Park.

A faint breeze blew through the leaves, making them rustle slightly and a shaft of pale light in the middle of the clearing fell through a gap in the dense canopy. Artificial night had descended over the ceiling above and today the skies were clear enough for Ranma to see the stars twinkling beyond the spectacular view of Saturn's rings as the gas-world's moons lazily drifted along their orbits.

She spent a few minutes just admiring the view, seeing as she had finished all her tasks for the day and she had no pressing matters to attend to. So lost was she in her study of the firmament above that she didn't hear someone approaching until a twig snapped behind her. Whirling around into a low crouch on instinct, the redhead internally berated herself over dropping her guard before noticing exactly who it was that had managed to surprise her. Standing just on the edge of the clearing's tree line and tinted in the grayscale shades of her dark-vision stood none other than the girl she had been attempting to discreetly approach in vain for the last month.

Conduct drilled into both her and Nabiki's heads during the crash course in etiquette and protocol Miss. Meiou gave them in the last year of their training snapped unconsciously to the fore of the redhead's mind as she quickly turned her defensive stance into a low bow.

"My apologies, Your Highness. I did not realize you were there. I was simply admiring the night's sky before curfew..."

The young woman just stood there, looking at her for a few moments in apparent surprise at the formal address even as Ranma noticed her mistake. Someone with normal vision would have a very hard time indeed seeing her as deep as she was in the shadows, let alone identifying someone so quickly. The moment passed, however, and the Princess stepped further into the clearing, inclining her head in acknowledgment of the redhead's address with a slight smile. "No apology is necessary."

Ranma could only blink at the abbreviated response, as the Cronian Princess walked into the center of the clearing to look at the sky above herself. The appropriate reply should have gone on to either include a dismissal or request for a name and it was obvious that the omission was deliberate. This was an opportunity that Ranma didn't want to let pass, but protocol dictated that the Princess make the next move. By leaving her response open ended as she had the redhead was forced to wait unless she wanted to come off as rude in the extreme.

Shaking herself to regain her wits, the hidden Senshi quickly assessed the rest of her surroundings, noting immediately that the Princess's guard detail was conspicuously absent. _'Odd, that...'_ She thought before turning her attention back to the girl in question. There were many things about her current actions that were setting Ranma's pragmatic sensibilities on edge. _'No guards, and I used this particular clearing specifically because it's well hidden from the main patrols...'_ she thought while turning her eyes back to the sky above, _'and yet she stands less than an arm's length away from a complete stranger...?'_

A quiet sigh once more brought her full attention back to the subject of her thoughts. The teen was still looking upward, though her eyes seemed unfocused now, as though she wasn't really seeing the sky above. Ranma may not have been nearly as skilled at reading people as her absent partner was, but she still knew enough to know that something seemed to be weighing on the young princess's mind.

"Would you care to talk about it your highness?" she quietly asked, deciding that the social faux pas was worth the risk, "That is... if you don't mind my asking?"

_'I was never much good at tact anyway...'_ the redhead thought as her companion for the evening seemed to rouse herself with her words. Blinking a few times the girl turned to look back at her. The sadness she had seen in the young woman's eyes a month ago was once more on full display, though there was an undercurrent of guarded hope in them that confused Ranma.

"_'And whom might I be, that the stars above would listen to my woes. For they are faceless strangers, destined to depart upon the morrow with the rising of the sun.'_"

"_'But unto the evening they do return, dear Raven, for as the sun doth rise, so too it must set and with its departure the night is born anew...'_" The words came softly before Ranma even realized she had spoken but the hidden message was there and she couldn't help the soft smile she gave the lonely young woman. "_Unto Dawn_ by Olivia Willows... Forgive me for speaking out of turn Princess. I am known as Ranma Saotome."

"As I said before; no apology is necessary, Ms Saotome." The sadness in her eyes lightened a little when it was clear that Ranma had understood and she turned her gaze back to the stars. Silence fell on them once again but it was less tense than it had been and the redheaded Senshi noted that as the minutes wore on the Princess became more relaxed. It also gave her time to think as she turned her own attention upward again. The quote the Princess had used was a very, Very old one. The reason she knew it by heart and had completed it without even realizing was because "Olivia Willows" had been a pen name used by Miss Meiou roughly a century before Serenity I had come into power. Setsuna still maintained the original manuscripts, written on honest to goodness _paper_ of all things. Ranma and Nabiki had memorized them from front to back, often using phrases from the omitted chapters as coded messages, but even over three thousand years later their mentor's published works maintained a place as classic literature.

"The hour is late," Princess Hotaru eventually said into the comfortable silence that had fallen between the two, "and curfew will begin soon, Ms. Saotome." Ranma shook herself from her silent musings just in time to see the younger woman turn from her own inspection of the sky and look at her with a small smile before turning to walk away. "If you wish, and should you have the time, I would like to meet you here again, _'For as the twilight descends we may once more gaze upon the stars, knowing them as they are: friends'_."

The redhead couldn't help but smile as her unsuspecting charge retreated further into the shadows. _'It looks like things just got a little more interesting...'_

-o-o-o-o-o-

Setsuna sighed in frustration once more as she stood before the Time Gates, idly twirling the all but useless key shaped staff she mounted the Garnet Orb on these days. Said sphere was currently floating a foot or so in front of her, linked to the gates and emitting streams of red light in patterns incomprehensible to all eyes but hers. The past was usually easy to gaze into unhindered. Easy, except when it came to distinguishing between fact and the fiction laid over the true events surrounding the fall of the Solar and Eridian Kingdoms and trying to do just that had been an on-again-off-again project of hers for the last two and a half centuries. The trip to Eris where they discovered the remains of Ranma's predecessor had given the Time Senshi the inspiration to finally _identify_ the source of the energy field blocking her sight.

_Knowing_ and _applying_ that knowledge, however, were too different things in this case.

She once more cursed herself for taking her orders to "identify and prevent external threats" so literally, seeing as the tunnel vision the task had given her was one of the factors that led to the kingdoms' untimely disappearances. She hadn't even realized how far things had gone astray until she felt the ripples caused by the virtual temporal rewrite. Virtual because unless someone went back in time it was all but impossible to _actually_ rewrite history in the manner observed and if that had been the case the "ripples" would have been more akin to temporal _tsunamis_.

The thrice cursed "Taboo's" laid on her when she was given the orders be damned, it was her duty as sworn upon her appointment as Senshi of the Realm, Guardian of Pluto and Caretaker of the Gates of Time to defend the kingdom from _all_ threats, both external _and internal_. She was a _Senshi_ for goodness sake, and while she never held, or even aspired to, the political power the Sailor Scouts currently possessed the station still carried a great deal of authority when it had actually meant something.

_'I could have easily appropriated help from the kingdom's military forces. It was _their_ job before it was _mine_ after all...'_ she mentally groused to herself, randomly adjusting the settings to try the effectiveness of different configurations, _'But no~o... I had to go and do it all by mys-... Hello... what have we here?'_

There had been a momentary shift in the temporal overlay as she concentrated on the "static zone" centered on the actual events of the kingdoms' destructions that she never seemed to be able to break through no matter how hard she tried. It had been the briefest of moments, but it had happened none-the-less. Setsuna couldn't help but grin as she backtracked through the settings she had been rapidly cycling through until it flickered again. Steadily narrowing down the correct settings the Senshi of Time couldn't help the vindictive excitement that was slowly building in her as she identified the specifics behind what seemed to be creating the small cracks in the virtual overlay. _'Of course! The Future is a manifestation of Chaos but the past is Static! The most likely source of the field is the Ginzuishou which is a tool of order. Stasis! Of course back-shifting the gate's viewpoint to see potential alternate outcomes would introduce enough chaos to disrupt it!"_

It wasn't technically time travel, seeing as her own temporal position never changed from the "present", but the ability to see the "could have beens" had been a source of both amusement and frustration throughout the last three millennia of her life. _'Two and a half centuries of trying to break the block, and it's _this_ of all things that actually works!'_

It was another minute of fiddling with the settings before she began to frown. Chaotic and unpredictable as the potential futures may have been, there apparently weren't enough "missed opportunities" so radically different as to create enough chaos to break the block, and back-stepping too far from the "static zone" had the false history overriding them completely with its own possibilities, further reinforcing its "validity" as it always had when she'd tried this approach before. Couple that with the overbearing presence of order, both societal and magical, throughout the Solar System for the last couple centuries and there simply wasn't enough chaos. Thinking on the new dilemma for a few moments her eyes shifted briefly to the "splitting hairs" image of the "present's" future. Up until she had first detected Ranma's chaotic magic through the gates there had only been a few "splits" in the time stream and she could accurately predict major events nearly two years in advance. Now, however, there were thousands and even more possibilities formed even as she watched, making predicting what would happen in the next two _days_ a challenge. _'Ranma's chaotic influence at work...'_ the Time Senshi thought with no small amount of awe even as an idea began to form in her head.

_'I need to break this completely...'_ she thought with certainty, looking between the "static zone" and the growing possibilities the future now held. _'If I can break through this I may be able to redirect the chaotic shockwaves to destroy the "Serenity Field" completely and return the natural balance...'_

_'I'll need Ranma's help to do it though...'_ was her final thought before the Time Senshi teleported to her study in Charon Castle. Ranma was still on her mission after all and she was still reorganizing her plans and forming new contingencies short of "_The Contingency_"...

She shivered as the thought crossed her mind. _'I hope it doesn't come to that...'_

-o-o-o-o-o-

Nabiki sighed in frustration as she stared angrily at the displays in front of her. Today was another "off day" from her direct observations of the Terran King and though she would have rather been personally scouting out the industrial complexes again, such work could be left to other agents. Data needed to be analyzed and her network of contacts needed to be maintained...

Surrounded by enough privileged information to upset the balance of Terran politics and organized crime for years to come, the Solar Senshi felt right at home. Maps, equipment manifests, personnel rosters, financial statements, transcripts on backroom deals and countless other forms of raw data danced before her eyes, shifting and changing with the slightest hand gestures. Right now she was analyzing the latest data-drop from another one of her contacts, integrating it into the information she already had available while simultaneously rearranging the data to form new connections in an effort to get a better view of the big picture here on Terra.

So far she wasn't liking what she saw...

_'Too many players...'_ she thought, _'There's just too many players working at opposing agendas here on Terra.'_

On one hand, it had been three months into her stay on Terra and leads on the Lunar Brotherhood's phantom-leadership were still scarce. It had taken her and her network of agents half of that time to track down and successfully hack all of their fragmented data-networks on Terra. At the moment the brunette could say with no small degree of confidence that they couldn't fart without her eventually finding out which side of their ass they farted _out _of when it came to their local operations.

Whoever was controlling the group, however, was skilled at covering their tracks. Even they made mistakes once in a while though and those told her that whoever it was, was definitely not on Terra on a regular basis, if at all.

She had already ruled out the Lunar Queen. Aside from simply not matching what Nabiki knew of the woman's preferred methods she had gone a step further and coordinated with Setsuna's network and confirmed that the Oppressor was too busy maintaining direct oversight on the hunt for Ranma and herself to account for any of the brotherhood's recent movements. That still left several possible persons of interest with the necessary resources and connections scattered throughout the Lunar Court. Despite having already ruled out more than a few of those by working the problem from both sides, there were still too many to easily narrow down the list further without more information.

On the other hand were the more local issues...

If it wasn't Senator Beryl nearly inciting another riot with her xenophobic rhetoric or the steadily shifting political lines in the senate towards the 'Earth First' agenda, it was King Endymion vanishing at odd times only to reappear hours later looking far more content than before or one of Nabiki's agents reporting on the divisions forming between the Shitennou while out of the public eye. The former, while annoying and necessary to keep a very close eye on, weren't nearly as concerning as the latter.

Endymion disappearing to the Stars knew where, the first occurring when the Lunar Queen came to 'pay her respects' to the late king, was beyond distressing to Nabiki and she only took comfort in the fact that no one _else_ seemed to know where he went either. Then there was the Shitennou who, in addition to being the King's bodyguards and last line of defense, were well known to be four of the closest friends imaginable. If there was a rift forming between that friendship, for _any_ reason, then something more troubling than usual was at work. Supposition would lead to the belief that the King's seemingly random disappearances were what were causing the fractures as they stressed over where he might have run off to, but something in her 'gut' told Nabiki that there was more to it than that.

Hours training in harsh conditions, playing out scenarios and war games designed to prepare her and Ranma for literally any situation both imaginable and _not_ had taught her to trust that 'gut instinct' even if their intel told them otherwise.

But beyond all that was the apparent third faction making a play on recent events...

The soldiers she had encountered while scouting Atlantis' Lower Industrial wards were definitely part of an independent faction, and being an unknown she had put out feelers to try and get a read on their motives like she had every other faction on Terra.

They were like ghosts.

The only reason Nabiki even knew about them was because she encountered their patrols, but after that it was like they all but ceased to exist. Agents sent to scout out the area later on reported no activity. The data she had collected during that first encounter had since been analyzed and it was clear that the patrol patterns indicated they were guarding a more or less central location, but having been called away to deal with Endymion's first 'disappearance' Nabiki had only compiled enough information to give a general _direction_ of where that 'central location' might be.

It was like when the previous king had been assassinated all over again, and Nabiki hated it.

She was cross-referencing data on one of the Weapons-Cartels that operated on Atlantis when a panel materialized marked "Incoming Call: Amaterasu: Urgent" which she immediately began cycling the encryption protocols for.

_"Nabiki!"_ Amaterasu panicked as soon as the Mau's image actualized on the call-screen, _"He's gone again! I also have a lead on where he might be going!" _

"Where!" The Solar Senshi had a hard time keeping the excitement out of her voice, _'Finally, a lead!'_ "Come on, Ama, now's not the time to leave me hanging in the breeze!"

_"Kingfish got a call from someone just before he vanished. That was ten minutes ago. I didn't manage to get a trace on the call, but I did manage to track him to sector C-9 before he dropped off the grid."_ The orange felinoid said as she visibly calmed, _"Here's the rub though; Kingfish may have fallen off the system, but Atlantis Security tagged a shuttle leaving the Arcology; EX-Class security clearance! That's when I called."_

Nabiki had already shut down her Data-Feeds, transferring Amaterasu's call to the HUD of her ZERO Armor, and was sprinting out of the safe-house in the direction of the nearest of her hidden hangers at this. "Which way did it go?!" she nearly screamed at her partner.

_"Hacked camera feeds show the shuttle on a North by Northwest heading. I'll key in more exact coordinates directly to your feed."_ Amaterasu said matter-of-factly with a look of concentration on her face before the relevant data scrolled across Nabiki's HUD._ "There aren't any satellites directly overhead that I could hack quickly enough without being noticed by someone so I can't track it past that, but if its heading doesn't deviate too much it will make landfall; ETA five minutes at the speed it was going." _

Nabiki thought her orange-furred friend sounded particularly proud of herself, regardless of the latter point, as she strapped herself into the seat of a stealth-shuttle docked in her hanger. She couldn't really blame the Mau, though, even given the seriousness of the situation. If they had been able to track Endymion this far, then someone else had probably been able to as well, and not everyone with an interest could be considered friendly.

"Any idea where it might be going?" she asked as she started flipping through the startup sequence.

_"No idea!"_ The pseudo-cat chirped with a cheerful grin, _"Referencing to existing maps of the area where it will most likely make landfall show no known settlements or instillations for several hours in any direction. He wouldn't be able to make it back before too many people notice he's missing if he was heading to any of them."_

"Great..." The Spy said with a sarcastic sigh, finishing the power up sequence, "In other-words, he could be going anywhere in-between. Nothing for it but to search the whole damn area until I find something, I guess..." The docking-clamps released and Nabiki ignored the customary moment of subtle vertigo as the shuttle began to hover freely over the deck plate.

_"Good Luck."_ said Amaterasu, still with that false cheerfulness as the bay-doors began to open. The feed cut before Nabiki could give a proper retort, leaving her to grumble to herself for a moment. With a mental shake to get back to the task at hand she keyed another command on the holographic control-consol and activated the stealth systems before throttling full-forward a mere dozen feet over the waves below.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"And The Cronus Titan's Win!"

Cheers and jeers rang throughout the stadium as the final set ended and the match was called. Ranma sat with a content smile, tuning out the final announcements and merely enjoying the atmosphere for a moment as her new friend nearly bounced in her seat in excitement. Seated next to her was a currently disguised Princess Hotaru Tomoe and the redhead couldn't help but wonder at the circumstances that had lead them to where they were now.

_'A lot can happen in four months...'_ she thought wryly, standing and stretching for a moment as the seating around them steadily began to clear. Holding her hand out to her friend, Ranma couldn't help but smile slightly as the younger woman laughed as she accepted the offer.

"So, Tau," she grinned, having to raise her voice somewhat to be heard over the din of departing spectators surrounding them as they began making their own way to the street, "How was your first _Real_ Rocket-ball game?"

"That Was Awesome!" Hotaru nearly yelled before breaking out into excited laughter again, "I mean, I've seen a few matches at, school, but I've never seen one played like _that_ before! And you go to events like this all the time?"

"Yeah," the Redhead agreed, passing over the younger woman's momentary pause as though she hadn't noticed, "Though the circuits on the other outer-worlds aren't nearly as good. Personally, I prefer to be down in the pit!"

"What's it like?"

"I..." Ranma stumbled over her thoughts for a moment, knowing what was being asked despite the question's ambiguity but needing to give it real consideration regardless. The currently green-haired, blue-eyed princess waited patiently, accepting Ranma's momentary silence in stride. They both knew that they were still keeping secrets from one-another after four months of steadily growing friendship, but the things they had shared so far were done so with an honesty that surprised Ranma, all things considered. It formed a unique cornerstone to their friendship, and somehow it all worked. The question was innocuous enough, however, where Ranma wouldn't need to leave anything out, as soon as she could actually figure out how to answer that is...

"I don't really know how to describe it." She finally conceded as the pair left the arena and turned onto the strip it was located on. "Exhilarating, I guess? I get down in the pit and all there is, is the game. It consumes my world and everything else is somehow... unimportant. The adrenaline rushing through me. The jerry flying through the air. The feel of my Racket in my hands as I intercept, pass, score and so-on. Win or lose, it doesn't matter in the end, except that it all adds up to a feeling of competitive accomplishment that I can't really put into words without falling woefully short; _'For what's an experience, but the sum expression of our feelings?'_."

Hotaru giggled at the quote, making the redhead smile as they turned into a small noodle soup stand for a quick bite.

"So..." Hotaru hesitantly began after they had been served, "I've been thinking... Would you be able to teach me how to play like you do?"

"Hm?" Ranma blinked in surprise, noodles dangling halfway out her mouth as she gave her friend a queer look for a second before slurping them up the rest of the way." I don't know... haven't your instructors ever let you..."

She stopped as the hidden princess seemed to fold in on herself for a moment. "Not really." She said. Ranma almost had to strain her ears to hear her friend over the din of the crowds behind them, "The ones... my family hire are only concerned with 'grooming' me to fill mother's roll when it's time; 'There isn't time for silly games' they say, and I only get out to be around other people once in a while, and never to do anything like watch a game... The ones sent from Luna are worse though... They're more concerned with indoctrinating me as a good little weapon."

Ranma really did need to strain her acutely trained ears to hear the last part and was relieved to hear the genuinely honest revulsion in the younger woman's nearly silent voice. Hesitantly, she reached over and lightly patted her friend on the back in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. That was probably the most personal, not to mention dangerous, revelation Hotaru had given her to date, and Ranma knew that sooner or later she would need to reveal something equivalent to make up for it. For now though, her friend needed her.

"I'm rarely allowed to even watch matches at the academy, and that's only if I'm caught up with my other studies and... training."

"Well!" Ranma said suddenly, making Hotaru jump a little, "That's a situation we will need to remedy Girlfriend! A life without having ever played Rocket-ball is a Life Less Vibrant! Let's see if we can't get the rest of our meals to go before finding some rackets and a place out of the way enough not to disturb anyone too much and I'll show you what I can!" Ranma finished her little speech with much exaggerated glaring and pointed fingers which earned her a smile from her previously morose friend. _'Good, that distracted her enough to stop before she said more than I can make up for without revealing too much...'_

Hotaru blinked at her untouched noodles in surprise for a moment as Ranma flagged the chef for two to-go carriers before taking a tentative bite. She paused for a moment at the flavor before cocking her head to one side, slowly chewing and almost deliberately swallowing. _'I suppose with the royal chefs at the tower she's never had ramen before.'_ Ranma thought, limiting the chuckling to her thoughts.

"So Tau," she said, letting the grin come into the open, "How're the noodles?

The currently green haired girl thought for a moment before nodding. "Spicy." Was all she said, and that was all it took for Ranma to start laughing. Collecting their now boxed up food Ranma stood and paid the chef, adding a more than reasonable tip to which she received a pleasant smile from the man, but she could see the genuine gratitude and a bit of relief trying to hide in his eyes and posture. The two friends left the stand in comfortable silence, each carrying a takeout box, the younger not noticing the slip of paper Ranma had passed to the chef as she paid him.

"So," Ranma started the conversation again, ignoring the feelings her mage-senses had started sending her when she has asked for the takeout boxes, "I remember this one time when the cat of a friend of mine got into the stasis box a little over a year ago..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Back at the stand agent Mu-Tzu read over the message he had been given again, committing it to memory before shoving the paper it was written on into the burner under his ramen pot.

_'Harlequin and the Trinity have arrived on the Harvester's doorstep. Inform the others and keep hidden._

_May the stars shine their favor upon us,_

_S.E.'_

-o-o-o-o-o-

Sailor Venus stepped off the royal transport, surveying the private docking bay reserved for the inner scouts for the next week during their visit to Cronus Station. Behind her followed Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and the "Agents" assigned to assist them in tracking down dissidents to the rightful throne.

Greeting them was the Saturnian Queen Yuna and her own entourage, rich purple hair trailing behind her several feet and wearing matching robes accented with a wide silver length of cloth tied around her waist by a large bow in the back. Her daughter, the Princess Heir Hayate Tomoe, stood behind and to the right of lesser queen wearing her own purple themed Sailor Fuku, hair a few shades darker than her mother's trailing down to below her knees. The woman held the Silence Glaive at attention in her right hand. Behind her and standing with what Venus scornfully thought was only _just_ the proper amount of subservience were the Princes Heir's three oldest daughters. Forming a corridor on either side of the group were a contingent of Saturn's Royal guards, their archaic, in Venus' opinion, armour and polearms gleaming in the artificial light.

"Greetings, Sailors Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. I hope your stay here on Cronus Station is pleasant." Queen Yuna said with a mockingly courteous smile.

"As do we, Queen Saturn." Venus had to resist the urge to sneer. This woman was higher than her in standing within the courts only through her position as queen of Saturn, though thankfully not above Venus' own mother. The royalty of Saturn were barely above the enigmatic Sailor Pluto within the courts, but just like the time guardian nothing could be proven. That wouldn't stop Venus if she saw an opportunity, however...

Beyond that the woman still controlled a considerable amount of magical power, despite having passed the mantle of Sailor Saturn along with the Silence Glaive to her Heir. Thankfully, neither of them possessed the world shattering power the progenitor of their line had held.

_'speaking of which...'_

"And where is your youngest daughter, Sailor Saturn? I was expecting your heir to be here as well."

"Princess Hotaru was feeling unwell." Sailor Saturn said succinctly and Venus didn't bother to hide the frown this time as she rearranged her plans. Venus, while having no official authority over the outer scouts, still held standing above Sailor Saturn as commander of the inners, and would deal with the older woman's veiled insubordination appropriately. In addition, Queen Serenity had invested a lot into ensuring Hotaru Tomoe's loyalty to her and her alone, and it was Venus' job to evaluate just how successful those efforts had been. It wouldn't do for a girl who could destroy worlds to be outside of the True Queen's control after all. But that would need to wait; she had ceremony and protocol to deal with first.

"Very well." She said, "If she is indisposed, then we shall simply proceed without her." Turning abruptly she addressed the agent in charge of overseeing their investigations. "Commander, see to our accommodations." She ordered. The nondescript man gave her a simple nod of acknowledgment before the agents departed to carry out their real duties.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Hotaru Tomoe, Princess of Saturn, walked through the run-down wards of Cronus Station and couldn't help but have her heart reach out to those around her. She could feel the lost and downtrodden souls of the citizens she knew she would one day preside over, and knew that like her mother and grandmother she would do everything in her power to give them whatever small hope she could. The Lunar Crown was uncaring at best and outright hostile towards such actions at worst, but not even the knowledge that even now she and her guardsmen were being tailed by several agents sent by the Moon Queen for their past actions in that regard could deter such thoughts.

She was disguised once more today, and her guards were equally hidden amongst the throngs of people surrounding them, though no less capable of conducting their duties for it. This way she could more easily mingle with her people, listening to rumors and providing aid to those who needed it through kind words or healing their physical injuries. Her mother had said it was to better prepare her for her future role if she was able to better empathize with the common man, and over the years she had been doing this the youngest Cronian princess had come to agree. Hotaru wasn't concerned with being recognized. Those who did were for the most part citizens of Cronus Station and wouldn't give her identity away out of patriotic loyalty to Saturn, and perhaps more importantly gratitude for what she was doing on a more personal level.

It was for these reasons that she wasn't concerned with the recent friendship she had somehow found in the woman who called herself Ranma Saotome, though Hotaru didn't know if that was really her name. The elder red haired woman was an enigma that she was determined to figure out, but at the same time Hotaru knew that she wasn't in any danger from her mysterious friend.

Some would say it was foolish and dangerous to trust anyone in the way she did with Ranma, but somehow, despite the more or less open admissions to having secrets something about her friend felt _genuine_ in such a way that told the young princess that such trust was not misplaced.

Neither Hotaru, her guards, nor their tails sent by the Sailor Scouts noticed the shadow tailing all of them dropping from a scaffold and onto another shadowed figure hiding in a darkened crevice three stories above their heads.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ranma shook her head in contempt as the shrouded figure beneath her dissolved into sand and began to "blow away" as the magic that held the construct together dissipated. She had five samples of the dust for analysis already, so didn't bother trying to collect the fine particles. Instead the assassin opted to pick up the weapon it left behind, giving it a quick rundown to determine both its make and model as a recoilless sniper rifle of Terran in origin, but not from any of the manufacturers she was familiar with along with what appeared to be a suppression modification to reduce the noise it made when fired.

Looking through the scope for anymore potential threats to her charge's life Ranma quickly scanned the area ahead for any threats to her charge's life. Not seeing any for the time being the hidden redhead attached it to the back of her ZERO Armour, electromagnets snapping it securely into place before she once more faded into the shadows to brave the dark sea. Relative moments later she reemerged from another shadowed alcove ahead of the Princess' party and unslung her new acquisition, expertly shouldering it before again scoping out the area ahead for any potential threats.

_'Two and one at three and eleven o-clock, only one has another weapon.'_ She thought, narrowing her eyes at the identically shrouded figures ahead of her and the difficulty in timing the kills so that no one would notice her before the assailants could make their own move while mentally mapping out the fastest routes to and from the nearest shadows. So far she had killed about nine of the featureless humanoid black colored golems, but the last had been the first with any kind of weapon.

_'They must be getting desperate.'_ Ranma thought darkly as she reattached the rifle to her back before fading into the shadows again only to reappear above the pair in a freefall. The first one never had a chance to react as her boot caved its head in and its partner was caught equally flat footed as she quickly recovered from her fall and struck. Solar plexus, throat and eye positions were struck with viper fast jabs of her palms and fingers before Ranma whirled around behind the stunned figure while wrapping an arm around its neck. With a swift jerk the construct collapsed in her arms from having its neck snapped almost one hundred eighty degrees before disintegrating into sand.

Even then the silent hunter didn't stop, activating her Armour's built in active-camouflage before running out onto the scaffold while mentally cursing that there were no easily accessible shadow-paths that would take her directly to her armed target. Barely fifteen seconds had passed before she reached her next position atop a structure with a commanding view of the ward.

_'ten seconds'_ she thought with forced calm while un-slinging her rifle again as Hotaru made her way through the strip below, unsuspecting of the danger she was in. With deliberate calm she shouldered her weapon and sighted through the scope downrange.

_'seven seconds.'_ Hotaru was almost to the plaza that would open her up to the other sniper, but Ranma was already lining up on her target while her ZERO Armour's computer hacked the electronic aiming systems built into the scope to give her the optimal shot.

_'Five seconds'_ she thought, the crosshairs lining up on the golem's head.

_'Fire – Fire – Fire – Fire – Fire.'_ She silently chanted, and on the last "Fire" her finger squeezed the trigger as her mental countdown reached two seconds. The weapon in her arms jerked only slightly as it gave off a very quiet bark, flinging a projectile no larger than a grain of rice straight into her target's head causing it to explode in a cloud of sand which was soon followed by the rest of its body. Reattaching her weapon to her back Ranma quickly ran to the edge of the building where she knew there would be shadows below and jumped off.

Down below Hotaru had turned towards where Ranma had been mere moments earlier, but quickly shook the feeling off, not knowing that said redhead was already on the other side of the street, vigilantly watching from the shadows...

-o-o-o-o-o-

- End Chapter IV -

-o-o-o-o-o-

End Notes: Again with the shorter chapter, but I think that trying to push for closer to 10K would only drag out the time between chapters even more. I see this chapter as a being less introductory to the setting of my "Dark" Moon Kingdom with more transition into building towards the final confrontations that will take place during the fall.

In lighter news, I've finally figured out a general direction for the next part, and hopefully it won't take as long for the next chapter to come out, but I make no promises. Also, for anyone interested, I have "concept art" of Ranma in her Senshi Armour posted to my Deviantart page (A Link can be found at the bottom of my Profile). It's only Line-art, so if anyone wants to color it in I'd be interested to see what people come up with. I also have concepts for Nabiki and Setsuna in their Senshi Armours already drawn but I'll only be putting those up once we actually see them in the story.


End file.
